


Reliving An Old Nightmare

by Erekio



Series: Trapped [1]
Category: A Hat in Time (Video Game)
Genre: And some descriptions of it, Gen, Hat Kid gets injured badly at one point, I updated the rating and the warnings because hhhh mild gore in the last chapters, Illustrations, Mentions of past abuse, Mild Gore, Snatcher is not going to have a good time, So I don't want to take any risks, The 22 first chapters are teen-rated though, Time Travel, becomes a bit gory at the end, but only on the last chapters, like dynamite with a laser beam yknow ?, so careful if it makes you feel bad, this is going to be angsty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-20
Updated: 2020-06-04
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:48:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 27
Words: 101,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22337299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Erekio/pseuds/Erekio
Summary: "Something was off about this.The ghost tried to open his eyes but quickly shut them off again, as a considerable ray of light surprised him. “What the...?” He thought to himself, taken aback by the flash, unable to understand what it was at first. Carefully, he reopened his eyes and squinted not to be blinded by the light. He instinctively brought his right hand to his face, only to notice that this wasn’t his hand."Snatcher wakes up in a forest and realizes that something horrifying has happened to him and to the rest of Subcon Forest. It's up to him to find out why it happened and who caused it.
Series: Trapped [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1783363
Comments: 431
Kudos: 511





	1. “Oh no. Oh no, no, no, no...”

**Author's Note:**

> Hello there ! My name is Erekio.  
> I used to write in French but now I'm trying to write in English. That's why you might find some grammatical mistakes, because I'm not a native speaker. Please tell me if you find some, so I can correct them as fast as I can !
> 
> The drawing you'll see in this chapter is mine.
> 
> Update schedule may vary for several reasons, such as :  
> 1) my English studies in college  
> 2) the fact that I plan to draw at least something for each chapter, so my time to draw will be deducted from my time to write. The complexity of the drawings will change and I don't think I'll always make detailed backgrounds.  
> 3) I'm always afraid regarding the quality of my work. As I currently have no beta, I'm often stuck and I end up procrastinating. I really want to write but I'm so scared that I can't, until I force myself to do so. Healthy thing, totally ! (It gave me a writer block for two years, I speak from experience) 
> 
> So if anyone is interested in this story, please tell me (it'll really reassure me), and if someone wants to help me, that would be so great !
> 
> Happy reading !

It _hurt_. Every part of his nonexistent body hurt like _hell_.

Snatcher’s eyes were closed as he slowly woke up from the pain. He was lying down on the ground, on something hard, which only worsened the ache in his body. For a reason he didn’t know, he could barely move an inch, as if he had no power left inside of him.

Something was _off_ about this.

The ghost tried to open his eyes but quickly shut them off again, as a considerable ray of light surprised him. “ _What the...?_ ” He thought to himself, taken aback by the flash, unable to understand what it was at first. Carefully, he reopened his eyes and squinted not to be blinded by the light. He instinctively brought his right hand to his face, only to notice that _this wasn’t his hand_.

Startled, the shade let out a shriek and a feeling of dread settled over him when he didn’t recognized his own voice. _This wasn’t his voice_ !

Now completely awoken, the ghost fought the exhaustion and forced his _body_ to straighten. He then looked all over himself, trying to understand what was happening. However, he froze immediately at the sight in front of him : instead of his usual spectral tail, he had two legs, ones that were very real. But the worst was that they were _connected_ to him, to a _humanoid_ body he didn’t recognize.

-“Oh no. Oh no, no, no, no...” This couldn’t be happening. There was no way this was reality. Ghosts couldn’t sleep and even less dream, but this could _not_ be real.

Snatcher brought up his hands to his face, hoping to feel the expected shadowy texture he always had. Nonetheless, when his fingers touched skin, eyes, nose, mouth, hair, ears... Horror grew inside of him, only confirming the fear he had tried not to believe at first.

He was in a human body. And not only inhabiting one, he _became_ human. As a soul-stealing type of ghost, he obtained many powers through all those years being dead, possession being one of them. However, what was happening didn’t feel like possession. On the contrary, he felt very much alive and _powerless_ , quite literally.

His breath got caught in his throat and soon, it became hard for him to breathe. He had been dead for hundreds of years, how could he remember how to do it well so suddenly ? His body probably did it instinctively when he woke up, but now he had to do it _himself_ and he had _no idea_ how to do so. Panic surely played a part in that.

He curled up, trying to get air back in his lungs without coughing, in vain. Maybe he would die again and things could go back to how they were before ? He had died once, he could do it again ! Though, he couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if he did die this time. A dead person never came back as a ghost unless they had very strong feelings before dying. What would happen to a ghost trapped in a human’s body ? Would he regain his previous form ? Or would he simply be banished to whatever place souls went when no one was here to steal them ? He wasn’t sure, and all these thoughts were persuasive enough to calm him down. He couldn’t take the risk of dying so stupidly without knowing what would happen to him after that, and especially what _had happened_ for him to be in this situation in the first place.

Little by little, he pulled himself together. He managed to stay calm and established a breath rhythm : “ _in, out, in, out, in..._ ” Saliva began to pile up in his mouth and, not remembering how to swallow yet, he had no other idea but to spit it out. He couldn’t deny the fear of choking himself with it, when he had just learnt how to breathe again ! The idea itself would be so hilarious to him if he was in any other situation and if it affected someone else. Though, now, he just wanted to stay alive at least until he figured out what _or who_ put him a human body.

Snatcher took a deep breath once it became more intuitive and started to think. How did he get here ? He had been patrolling in his forest, and suddenly, there had been some sort of earthquake, and then... A flash, with white everywhere. It had felt so... Abrasive. As if all of his being had been wiped out of existence... No matter how hard he tried to remember, he felt a hole in his memories, as if a piece of it had been taken away from him. And now... The old shade studied his surroundings for the first time since he woke up. He was wearing a long red coat, rather warm. He also seemed to wear formal yellow pants and purple boots, all of this making him quite uneasy and he looked away. Just what he needed... Being in a body with clothes just like the ones he used to wear himself ! _Lucky him !_

He quickly put that thought away, to focus more on the present. Sensations were so intense. He could feel _everything_ at once : clothes on his skin, wind on his face, smells from nature... As a ghost, he had lost the senses of smell and touch. All he had been able to feel through those years was coldness on a metaphorical skin, like a phantom limb feeling. It had always been here to haunt him and to remind him of all this time passed in the _cellar_... Sometimes, he even felt the shackles on his wrists. He couldn’t dream but he had flashes of memories, visions... It never lasted very long, but it was _there_. He couldn’t really run away from the thing that changed him so much. And now... The coldness was _gone_. The lack of that freezing feeling made him anxious, because he had been used to it for so long, though it felt... So _good_ , being able to sense warmth again.

Trees were all around him, circling him. Green was everywhere : in foliages, grass, bushes, mosses on stumps... Wind was echoing all around him. The weather seemed calm and almost warm. Above all of this was the Sun, shining through holes between leaves. That was without any doubt the light he saw earlier. No wonder it had blinded him : it was so strong... It had been years since he last saw the Sun, pretty much exactly the day when Subcon Village changed after Vanessa’s outburst.

The simple thought of his village quickly made him realize the gravity of his position : if he was here... Then no one was in the village to protect it against his ex. He _had_ to go back ! He did have many minions; nonetheless, their bodies were very fragile, as they were only made of clothes. They wouldn’t stand a chance against the livid old woman he knew _so well_. Maybe she had already sensed his disappearance and left her manor ? He couldn’t stay there : he had to protect _his_ kingdom. Much more determined, Snatcher tried to get himself back to his _feet_ , in vain : his _new legs_ were heavier than he first thought. His limbs didn’t answer the way he wanted them to and it hurt to move them. It couldn’t be that _hard_ ! That hat wearing child could run and jump everywhere in his forest, why wouldn’t he be able to do the same ? It shouldn’t take him more than a few seconds to remember how legs worked ! After all, he had been human before !

Yet, when he tried to stand up, he fell right back on the ground. The fall hurt his already aching body and he felt air leave his lungs from the impact.

-“Oh, this is just _great_.” He groaned between his teeth. He put his hands on the dirt, ready to pick himself back up. As he started to lift his body from the ground once again, something caught his attention on his left hand. Was this a ring on his ring finger ? He scoffed : _man alive_ , already being in a relationship ! It served him right the first time and he certainly didn’t want to relive anything like that again.

Just as he was about to get the ring off his finger, he stopped : he... _Knew_ that ring.

His face grew pale instantly and he felt his heart skip a beat. His breathing sped up and it was as if a bucket full of cold water was poured right on him. His mind was already trying to find any logical explanation to convince himself that what he was seeing _wasn’t reality_.

On this hand, the one he didn’t believe to be _his_... Was his old engagement ring, which he could recognize anywhere. A beautifully carved ruby, on a golden ring, on which was written the name of his old lineage... A perfectly _unique_ piece of jewellery. How could this ring be here, when it should be on his dead body-

And then a feeling of pure horror appeared on his face as it all started to make sense. Waking up in a human body which clothes looked just like _his_ , being in a _forest_ he thought he didn’t know, _wearing a piece of jewellery that belonged to his ancestors_... He brought his hands to his head, feeling his fingers intertwining with hair, this brown and wavy hair that once belonged to _him_.

He was in his old body. The one which had long rotten in his ex’s basement... Then how ? _Why_? _This shouldn’t be possible_! It was all he could think about, while panic was slowly taking control of him. He could feel his own heart rapidly beating inside, _again and again and again_ , without stopping. But he was supposed to be _dead_ ! How did he not understand right away ? Sure, it had be hundreds of years, but it was still his old body ! The _thing_ he had to look at for hours once shackled to a wall in the cellar of his old manor !

Did he try so hard to forget his past that he almost forgot what he looked like before ? Sure it had felt familiar but...

Snatcher brought his shaking hands back in front of his face, not wanting to believe what was happening. It was too much. He felt dizzy and sick, things he hadn’t felt for _years_. His mind searched for any piece of information he had, hoping to find a way out of this situation. And then it hit him.

The kid. It had to be her fault ! There was no other explanation, regarding time travelling stuff. All of her timepieces that allowed anyone to rewind time once broken... Maybe one fell into his forest ? Or could she have broken one herself ? But then, it didn’t make sense. Why would she even do that ? She had no reason to, and even if she wanted to play a prank on him... She always picked up those timepieces with great care, not wanting to drop one clumsily. If his situation _was_ the cause of a broken timepiece, it was either an accident from the kid, or someone else’s fault. But, in that case, who ? He thought the child had retrieved all of them. Could it be possible that she had missed one and that someone took it ? Probably not, she really was stubborn on getting them back. And in that case, he would have felt the presence of that _someone_ in his forest.

Snatcher grabbed the trunk of a nearby tree in order to stand up without stumbling. He needed to find a way of contacting the kid, and fast. She was the only person able to help him. But once again, he realized with dread that if he was here, in his old body... _Then she wasn’t even born yet_. He almost fell to the ground again.

His only means of getting out of here, out of _this body_... Didn’t exist yet. Snatcher was _alone_. But this wasn’t all. The forest wasn’t frozen. It was still alive, _full of life_...

And if was alive as well... So was Vanessa.


	2. “Being trapped in a human body is the worst !”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Snatcher is having so much fun being a human again ! (no he really, really doesn't)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm updating a little earlier than what I wanted. I was supposed to wait until I finished writing the third chapter, but something is currently preventing me to write, so as the story hasn't really started yet... I thought it was best if I didn't wait too long with the first chapters.  
> So, here is the second chapter ! I hope you'll like it !
> 
> Also, if there is any problem or grammatical mistake, don't hesitate to tell me, as I'm not a native speaker. And if you had a good time reading this chapter, don't hesitate to tell me either, as it will really motivate me for the next chapter.
> 
> Happy reading !

Walking was a horrible experience. Snatcher had been human before, but he certainly didn’t remember it being _that_ hard. It should be easy, moving a foot after the other ! At least it was when Snatcher possessed someone. Yet, being in control of his own body was considerably different and _difficult_. He couldn’t tell exactly why, though he supposed that possession simply controlled one’s will to move and talk, instead of _really_ controlling a body.

This was getting ridiculous.

The old ghost had found a rather long branch and started to use it as a cane. While walking without anything to keep him steady was completely impossible for the moment, having a branch as a _third leg_ did help him not to stumble too much. He still did, and walking was still painful, but at least no one was there to see it, especially that hat wearing brat. He would never hear the end of it otherwise.

-“If only I could just float again...” He groaned, clenching his hands around his walking stick. He knew he couldn’t fly anymore. His powers mostly came from stealing souls. As a human, the old ghost never had any real power and now that he was back in that fleshy form, he was left with nothing. He remembered how magic felt like inside of him, so he knew when he didn’t have any. It made him feel quite vulnerable, though he _hated_ to be seen that way.

He was in Subcon Forest, he was sure of it. Even though it didn’t look like it at first, he could still recognize it. Admittedly, he hadn’t spent too much time in it while he was alive, but after his death, it had become not only his home, but also his minions’ one. Still, finding his way around was not smooth task. He did know every inch of his forest, but mainly after Vanessa’s outburst. Before she froze the village though ? That was another story. Branches and trees didn’t look the same, foliages were different, and the most noticeable thing was the fact that this forest was inhabited by a lot of animals. In the one he became familiar with, everything was dead. And when something was not, it usually was to hurt other living beings. Here though ? He could hear birds chirping, small cries of animals, there were movements in bushes... This forest was full of life.

It... Didn’t feel like home to Snatcher. This was part of a past that he wanted to forget as much as possible and _walking_ through it only made him terribly ill at ease. He stopped moving, as he started to think : where was he going ? It wasn’t like he could have stayed where he woke up, however he didn’t really know where to go, apart from reaching the doors of Subcon Village... What about his minions though ? Did they remember too ? Did... Vanessa remember ? The world was still in an “unfrozen state”, compared to the one he came from, so that was rather both a good and a bad sign. Good, because that could only mean Vanessa wasn’t as lunatic as she had become before locking him up in the cellar. Bad, because if Vanessa didn’t remember, there were chances that his minions didn’t either. Though, maybe it wasn’t _that_ bad, as he had never told them about his true identity... After he died, he had denied all of his past and his name, choosing a new one before becoming the new king of Subcon Forest. He had become so furious about his old self that he had never wanted to be associated with _him_ again. But now... His situation was pretty ironic in itself. If he did find any minion remembering things before the _flash_ , then... Snatcher wasn’t sure about what he would do. Would he tell them ? Or would he play the role of the ignorant fool in love with a crazy ice queen ?

Speaking about her... What was he going to do ? If he couldn’t find any way to reverse this situation quickly, he would not only need to find a place for _this_ body to sleep, but also a place to prepare a plan. And since he only learnt how to breathe again the same day he woke up here... He was sure that his chances of survival in the wild were pretty low. He had to be careful now that he was stuck in a fleshy being. He had been used to immortality and powerfulness for so long that his position was utterly humiliating. If he died here and now, he wasn’t sure about what would happen to his soul and he really didn’t want to find out.

He shook his head : all of this was _way_ off-topic. He needed to think about what he was going to do _now_. Going to the village surely was the worst idea of all, because of the unknown waiting for him there, and _mostly_ because of Vanessa being there as well. However, there were much more problems about this idea. Subcon Village was full of people he had known all through his short life –people he had seen dead or frozen forever. The thought of going there and seeing all those persons, each one of those he used to know as a human... It made him so _sick_. Waves of nausea hit him hard the more he thought about it. It wasn’t like a hundreds of years into the afterlife could erase the trauma coming from being shackled in a cellar, dying from coldness and hunger...

He wanted to think about something else so much, but then his parents’ faces came to his mind and he almost immediately threw up whatever was in his stomach. He had to lean on a nearby tree to not fall down. His body felt very weak at the sudden and he had trouble to breathe. The spirit didn’t know what to do : he had seen most of his victims panic and having trouble to stay calm, yes, but what about him ?

He put his hand on his heart : it was beating fast, undeniable sign of his state. Was he _scared_ ? Him ? The terrifying Snatcher ? How _ironic_ ! He would almost laugh out loud if he didn’t have a risk of choking while doing so.

A few minutes passed. All he could do was waiting in silence, as he started to feel better as time flew. It probably didn’t last very long, but it had seemed like an hour to him. He didn’t want to experience _that_ ever again.

-“Being trapped in a human body is the _worst_ !” he mumbled, wanting nothing more to kill something out of frustration. If only he still had his laser beams ! At least, that would have helped him to feel a little better about what was happening. Though, it surely wasn’t the most _discreet_ way of relieving stress, so the ghost supposed it wasn’t all bad... But he was still disappointed.

So, no more thinking about his _dead-but-now-alive family_. There was another huge problem about coming back to the village : he knew where he was, sure, but _when_ ? He knew he had been brought back before Vanessa’s outburst, but how long before ? Was it days, months ? Years...? He threw a look at himself : he didn’t look much younger than the day he died... So perhaps no more than a few months. He winced : at that time, he was studying law abroad. If he did come to the village when he was supposed to be miles away, how would he ever explain it ? He could invent an excuse for the villagers, but for Vanessa and his parents ? They would never believe him, especially Vanessa. Plus, he hadn’t talked to his parents for _hundreds of years_ ! How was he supposed to know how to talk to them now ? Maybe they used to be close before, but after everything that had happened... It certainly wasn’t the same anymore. Over the years, Snatcher had become quite _cold_ -hearted-

He felt the feeling of nausea coming back, so he quickly decided to put those thoughts and bad puns away once again. So, going to Subcon Village was a bad idea. What was next ? He wasn’t limited to the forest anymore like he used to as a ghost. He could go somewhere else if he wanted to. However, there weren’t many towns near Subcon Village... It would take him days to find one, if he didn’t run into an inn first. But what would the people at the inn say if they ever saw him ? If they recognized him as the Prince and if it came to Vanessa’s ears... Knowing her, she would imagine he was there for a woman, and it would lead to a new outburst. Did he even have the money to pay for an inn ? He rolled his eyes at himself : he didn’t even think to check ! He started to look in the pockets of his red coat, finding a few coins, then checked the ones on his pants. Nothing.

Well, so much for being a _prince_. Didn’t wealth go with royalty ? He scoffed at his old self. If only that fool had thought about having more money in his pockets before leaving-

Snatcher frowned : why did he wake up in the middle of the forest in the first place, if he was supposed to be abroad ? It didn’t make any sense ! His old self didn’t even visit the forest that much. So why ? The more he thought about it, the less he could understand. Time travel was the kid’s forte, not his. He could feel a migraine coming. Oh, that was so _unpleasant_... He put his fingers on the sides of his head, pressing hard on his temples.

Going to the village was a bad idea because of Vanessa. But not going there was _also_ a bad idea because of Vanessa.

Relationships were so _difficult_... He let out a long annoyed groan. He knew where he was going to go, eventually; he just didn’t want to accept it. Ironically, the most safe solution was still to go to Subcon Village and pretend to be the dumb prince, at least until he learned what or who broke the timepiece.

-“This is going to be awful...” Still, he straightened and dusted his coat, sighing.

He didn’t have much of a choice. He never really had any, in the end. He just hoped that if someone had to remember other than him, that it wouldn’t be Vanessa of all people. He put weight on his walking stick and glowered at it : what about that ? How was he going to justify this, on top of the fact that he came back home way earlier ? He had no idea about that.

-“I guess I’ll have to improvise. Luckily, I’m good at it.” He said first with confidence. Though, thinking about where he was going made him more than anxious : “... Hopefully.” He added, while rubbing his wrists nervously.

There was no way this could end well.

Just as he was about to start walking again, he heard a noise behind him, something he couldn’t recognize. He turned over, afraid of having been discovered by someone. He wasn’t ready yet ! He needed to know what to say before engaging in any conversation : if he made the slightest mistake, it would all be for nothing. But instead of seeing a person or an animal like he thought he would, he spotted something very different. It looked like a crack, but floating in mid-air, without being attached to anything. It emitted a bluish light, almost dazzling, so much that Snatcher had to squint.

Well. This was certainly new.

He rose his eyebrows, sceptic. He knew what magic looked like and he could tell very well that this was not. Plus, magic had been around Subcon for a lot of time and both in his life and afterlife, he had never seen something like that. This was different, in a way that wasn’t very reassuring. What was it ? Why was it here ? Why did it appear near him ? And especially... Was it dangerous ? There were so much questions, but no answers. All he could do was staying motionless and waiting for anything to come. However, he waited a few minutes, wary, but nothing happened. The crack remained the same no matter how long he examined it. After a while, the old shade decided it probably wouldn’t represent a threat to him and he came closer. He went around it to see if the crack would move or follow his stare, but it didn’t. It just floated, completely still.

-“Just _what_ are you ?” he spoke to himself rather to the abnormal breach. Without thinking about it, he raised his hand and moved it towards the crack. The reaction was immediate and before he could _touch_ it, it disappeared in a flash, without leaving any trace behind. Snatcher remained unmoving for a few seconds, not knowing what to do, staring into empty space where the crack used to be.

First, waking up in a human body and now _this_ ? It couldn’t be a coincidence. Both were linked, the ghost was sure of it. He frowned again, not liking where things were going. He hated not knowing what was going on around him. It gave him the impression of being someone’s fool, someone’s little toy. _He_ was the one playing with people, _not_ the other way around. Yet, he could feel there was more to this story than just a broken timepiece and he was going to find out what or who chose to play with him and make them _deeply regret it_.

He waited a few minutes, wondering if something else would happen once again. Though, nothing seemed to appear out of nowhere again, so he decided to leave for the place he didn’t want to see the most. Each time he made a step, a flash of memory would blind him very briefly : he would see the place of the village, the market full of life, the flower shop, the front of his ex’s castle, or the _cellar_... His face grew pale and he felt the nausea coming back full force at the sudden image. Could he even do this ? If he felt so ill just thinking about it... How was he going to go there, or even walk _through_ it ? This was going to be so much more difficult to handle and he knew it very well. But what other choice did he have ? He took a deep breath and tried to pull himself together : he had survived worse things than that, he could handle it ! In the best case scenario, he would be back in his own version of his forest, in his ghostly form and _all_ would be well. Or, in the worst case scenario... He would either be frozen to death or shackled back in the cellar.

His body started to shiver from the thought of that last possibility and Snatcher hated himself for being so weak. He had no other choice, so he had to go, and that was final. Though, that did little to stop him from shaking.

Being a human _really_ was the _worst_.

He continued walking for a while, trying to remember where was the village despite the forest looking very different to what he used to know. His legs hurt the more he walked and soon it became hard to move at all. Who knew that it would be so difficult ? He was about to lean against a nearby tree to rest but then he saw something through the trees in front of him. He squinted, not sure about what it was, but then it hit him.

What he was seeing... Was one of the ramparts of the village.

There he was. So close from the village and only hidden by several trees from the guards’ sight. A wave of panic hit him as he realized what he had to do next :

-“I can’t do it...” He murmured in a rushed tone, as he grabbed his head with both hands : “I can’t do it, I can’t do it !”

There was no way Snatcher could walk in there and pretend everything was fine and normal. All those people were dead and all the kids that his ex murdered became his minions ! There was absolutely nothing normal and fine about all this ! This entire town was part of a past that he wanted nothing more than forgetting about it. How was he supposed to enter and be the dumb prince he used to be ? He couldn’t, because that fool had long been _dead and buried_.

His breathing sped up considerably and soon it became hard for him to calm down. The old ghost couldn’t help but letting himself slide against the tree he was leaning on, to sit on the ground. His heart was beating very fast, _too fast_ , and he felt his eyesight becoming cloudy. He couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t move, he didn’t know what was happening to him and _he was going to die alone without having learnt anything_ -

He curled up, trying to inhale as much air as possible but coughed, too panicked for that. His whole body seemed to turn against him and he had no idea how to deal with it. His mind had become hazy and nothing made sense to him anymore. Why was he here ? What happened to him ? Why, why, why, _why_ ? His hands moved on their own and rubbed his wrists again and again and again _and again_ -

The ghost didn’t know how long he stayed like this. Minutes, _hours_? Who could tell. After a while, Snatcher managed to calm himself, feeling the fear settling down inside of him. He looked all around himself, afraid of having been spotted by any of the guards. But no one was coming to him and the shade let out a huge sigh of relief. If a guard had come and seen him like this, he had no idea what he would have said or done. The last thing he wanted was to attract attention on himself, especially Vanessa’s attention... 

-“Okay.” He said, breathing in deeply. He used his cane to get up, ignoring the feeling of dread in his stomach. He could do this.

He _had_ to do this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... Next chapter will be set in Subcon Village ! Now, I must warn you : as we don't have a lot of lore in the game about who lived in Subcon (apart Snatcher, the forgotten children, Vanessa and the Florist), I'll have no choice but to create new characters. I could make nameless characters but I don't find it realistic or interesting either.  
> So, the next chapter is going to contain characters I made for the story, because I don't want to create a ghost town (pun not intended xD )
> 
> By the way, chapter 3 might take a little longer to be posted, as I haven't finished it yet, same for the drawing, which is still to be coloured. So I hope you'll forgive me for that, and I also hope you're still interested in the story so far.
> 
> See you on the next chapter ! Take care of yourself in the meantime !


	3. “Oh, that was a low blow...”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Snatcher enters Subcon Village once again and finds familiar faces.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't supposed to post this chapter before finishing the fourth chapter, but... Well I'm having trouble writing the beginning of it, so... I didn't want to wait too long and keep you waiting too much. So here's the new chapter ! There will be headcanons and OCs from now on, to "fill the town", if you know what I mean. I hope it won't bother you too much.
> 
> The drawing you'll see is mine, as always. I'm trying new coloring techniques, I hope you'll like it !
> 
> I also really wanted to thank all of you for your kudos and your very kind comments, it helped me a lot, you have absolutely no idea. If you like this story, please don't hesitate to tell me, as my work is very influenced by motivation. Thank you again, I never imagined getting so much good comments, just from two chapters ! I want to continue writing this and get out of my writing block, or punch it in the face, that would be great too.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy this chapter ! It's the longest one so far, and it's closer to the length I used to write in my old fanfictions. I still hope to write shorter chapters, as they take me less time to write.

Finding the will to get himself on the road leading to Subcon Village had been the hardest decision Snatcher had ever made. He wanted nothing more than staying in the forest where he felt much safer than the very idea of coming to the same place where Vanessa was. Considering all the deadly creatures possibly living into the woods, that was saying something...

He knew he couldn’t just get out of the forest and walk the length of the ramparts until he found the town doors. If he wanted this to work, he had to be convincing and had to invent a reason for him to be here, as his old self was supposed to be abroad for his studies. He had thought about this on the way to Subcon Village and he imagined several hypothetical scenarios. But he supposed that simplicity worked the best : his old teacher, a young woman whom he didn’t remember the name yet, might have become ill, thus sending him home until she felt better to teach him again. He then would have paid someone to take him to Subcon Village, but that person could have stopped at the entrance of the forest. They could have argued and he would have had to go through the forest by himself. He then would be pitied over by everyone, just like the _dumb prince_ he used to be.

This was the perfect plan and there was absolutely _no way_ this wasn’t going to work.

He then looked at his trembling legs. He couldn’t walk without his cane yet, so he had to find an excuse for that too. He shrugged : what if he had just hurt himself and sprained his ankle ? In a way, he did stumble a lot before coming here, so that wasn’t completely a lie. His clothes were now dirty and his whole body hurt like hell, there _had_ to be bruises somewhere to confirm his claims !

After joining the main road leading to the village, he took a deep breath. He could do this. He had no other choice anyway. He ignored the feeling of dread in his stomach and made several steps towards the huge doors, where two guards stood next to them. The one on the right spotted the ghost first and made a gesture to his partner to look in his direction. When both of the guards’ stare fixed upon him, the shade felt another rush of fear crushing his shoulders. However, he forced himself to remain calm : he couldn’t run, this was the hardest part yet he _had_ to do it ! If he didn’t, things would never go back as they were before and he would _not_ allow it.

The guards seemed to recognize him quickly and ran to meet him, leaving their post without thinking. Snatcher thought he had everything under control, until one of the sentinels called him by his name, the one thing the shade had repressed the most during all these years passed in the afterlife :

-“Prince Alistel ! Are you alright ?” said the guard, before coming right next to him, soon caught up by his partner. Both of them looked at him with worry, while he lowered his head, afraid of showing any distress on his face. One of the guards realized the shade might need help standing up and caught Snatcher’s left arm before putting it over his shoulder. The other sentinel instantly imitated him, both of them keeping Snatcher straight.

“ _Oh, that was a low blow..._ ” thought Snatcher, who hadn’t expected to hear his real name that soon. His heartbeat had sped up immediately and it took all he had in him to not wince. He couldn’t deny the horror he felt for a very brief moment. God, he _hated_ that name now.

He could take a better look at them, now that they were closer and he _shouldn’t have looked_. He _knew_ them. After hundreds of years, he could still recognize them. The guard on his left had blond hair and was pretty imposing, but he was really kind when you got to know him. Which Snatcher did ! He even remembered his name ! Barry, that was the man’s name. The other was thinner and had grey hair. He also had a sterner face. He was older and more experienced as a sentinel than Barry. Snatcher didn’t have to wait very long to find his name either : Sander. He could remember all the time they talked, each time he left the village or came back... And they were _alive_. Just in front of him. How was he supposed to keep an impassive expression ?

He suddenly realized he still hadn’t replied to their question and pulled himself together.

-“I... I’m alright...” He answered, teeth clenched. He couldn’t deny that being held up really eased the pain in his legs, but it still hurt a lot. Plus, he didn’t like being touched or needing someone’s help, though he put his pride aside for now. He then remembered his story and continued : “I think I sprained my ankle.”

He was about to explain the reason of his early return but he was cut short by Barry, who gave him a concerned look :

-“Oh, don’t worry Prince, we’ll get you home right away !” The man then nodded in Sander’s direction : “Hey, go find a carriage, I’ll take him to our post in the meantime so he can sit.” Sander agreed and let go of the ghost to leave, not holding the latter anymore. Snatcher let out a pained groan, as he had to put his right leg back on the ground. He felt the ache in his body increasing. Why did humans have to use legs ? He couldn’t help but wonder as the pain annoyed him more and more.

-“Come on Prince, it’s going to be okay.” Barry tried to reassure him, with his strong enthusiasm and optimism : “It’s not that far, you’re going to make it and then you’ll get to sit on the most comfortable chair we have !”

If Snatcher used to find the other very nice and pleasant to talk to in the past, now he just wanted to strangle him to make him shut his mouth. He was back in his old body, thrown away in a world that he just wanted to forget, in the same village where his crazy ex was, but _sure_ , there were a lot of things to be positive about ! Well, first, he wasn’t dead yet ! Or frozen ! Or locked up in a cellar, shackled to a wall ! _Man alive_ , that would be terrible if it ever happened to him _again_ !

The ghost forced himself to smile though. He had to play along, play the role of the prince, he couldn’t let people know that something was different. Who knew what might happen if it ever reached Vanessa’s ears... He already feared her reaction to his early return. And, deep inside, he even feared she _was_ the reason behind this mess in the first place. But why wouldn’t the world be frozen if she had kept her memories ? Why was he the only one to remember ? It didn’t make sense, at least for now, he supposed. He needed to look for clues to know what happened exactly.

-“Ahaha, oh I _can’t wait_!” He laughed grudgingly. Well, on the bright side, he didn’t even have to use his excuse, so that was a good point. Perhaps the sentinels had thought it wasn’t their business and they were right to think so. Too bad it wasn’t going to work on his parents, but as soon as their faces came to his mind, he tried to think about something else. He couldn’t do this right now. He knew he was going to see them again soon; however he just _couldn’t_ at the moment. He felt like the smallest effort at remembering something difficult would make him lose his balance completely. The only thing he could do to keep his mind occupied was to focus on the pain in his legs.

It lasted less than a few minutes but it felt like hours to Snatcher. When they reached the observation post, the shade thought he was going to lose consciousness from exhaustion. The moment Barry helped him to sit down was the best thing that had happened during the day. In a way, that wasn’t very hard, as the day started pretty low on a scale from one to ten... His whole body sank into the chair and the thought of never getting up crossed his mind and almost convinced him. He knew the day was going to become much more complicated and that didn’t really help.

They had entered the building hidden into the rampart. It lead to a small set of rooms, one of them being Barry and Sander’s observation post, or at least where they stayed when they weren’t guarding to doors. Snatcher had only been there once and barely remembered the place. It wasn’t a big room, just enough to have two people inside it. The walls were made of the same stone as the ramparts and the floor was made of cobblestones. There weren’t a lot of furniture : there was a table in the centre of the room, two chairs next to it, plus the one Snatcher was sitting on. There were several cupboards, probably to put weapons inside it and other things the ghost wasn’t familiar with. The room didn’t have any window, which wasn’t really surprising, as it was supposed to be hidden. It was largely decorated according to the guards’ interests, especially posters of diverse festivals and parties happening in town. Some were familiars to him, others not so much. It had been so long, he had just forgotten trivial things like these. He felt a pinch in his heart : all of this was supposed to be behind him yet he couldn’t help but feel a bit of nostalgia at the sight of the room and its decorating. He gave himself a psychological punch in the face : everyone was _dead_. There was no point in regretting the past or being nostalgic about it, since he was going to change everything the way it was before coming back.

He took a deep breath and came back to reality, trying to change his focus on something less painful. His eyes fell on Barry, who opened a closet in one of the cabinets. The man had a smile on his face, which annoyed Snatcher even more. As if there was something to be happy about, in a day like this. He rolled his eyes, but quickly changed his expression once Barry turned around, a bottle of something in his hand.

-“Do you want to drink something, Prince ? It might help you feeling better, while we’re waiting for Sander to come back.” He gave Snatcher an earnest look, before continuing, in a less confident tone : “I know we’re not supposed to have this kind of thing here, but... Well, things can get pretty boring while we’re in here, so...”

Snatcher suddenly realized how much he lost the habit of small talk, considering that he was briefly at a loss of words. God, he was supposed to _improvise_ , not remaining mute ! He shrugged and smiled, hoping to be convincing :

-“Pff, don’t worry, your secret is safe with me.” Though, his confidence broke a little when a look of confusion crossed Barry’s face. Did he say something wrong ? Was he supposed to reprimand him for having a bottle of what the ghost supposed to be alcohol ? Why would he care if the other drank in his free time ? The shade didn’t even _belong_ here anymore !

-“Hum... Okay ?” replied the guard, still smiling, yet the shade could see it wasn’t as genuine as before : “So, do you want me to give you anything ?”

The ghost nodded silently, not sure about the way he could answer without being suspicious. What if it was obvious ? If he couldn’t fool a single guard, then what about Vanessa ? He wouldn’t stand a chance ! She was going to see that something was _different_ and he couldn’t allow himself to lose a second time against her. Once was already _too much_.

Barry poured two drinks and gave one to Snatcher, who couldn’t help but stare at it : would he be fine drinking ? Not that drinking alcohol was a problem, but did he remember how to swallow things or liquids ? Saliva hadn’t been easy at first, but he had managed to get the basics after a while. Drinking ? That wasn’t the same thing. He was cut in the middle of his thoughts when the man started talking again :

-“So, how is Alianor ? If you don’t mind me asking, I mean.”

Snatcher felt his heart skipping a beat : Alianor ? His mind became blank all of a sudden. The name did ring a bell, but he really couldn’t remember who it belonged to. It belonged to a woman, by the sound of it, probably one living in the next town where his old self was supposed to be, but who ? As a prince, he had met many people, and over the long and numerous years he lived as a ghost, he forgot a lot of them. Now ? He could only list a few names and recognize some faces, but that was all. All he could do at the moment was bluffing, the only other solution being to remain silent while he searched for the right person. However, that would only make him more suspicious than he already was.

So he did one of the things he was very good at : lying.

-“Alianor ? Oh she’s doing great ! You know how she is !

-Really ? That’s good to hear. I still need to reply to her letter.

-Yeah, she told me she was waiting for it.

\- She did ?”

“ _Nailed it._ ” Thought the shade, a feeling of pride swelling inside of him.

Small talk lasted for a few more minutes, and Snatcher felt relieved when Barry’s smile became as sincere as it was before. The man then chugged his drink and let out a sigh of pleasure. The ghost looked at his own drink, which he hadn’t touched yet and became nervous. If he didn’t drink it soon, he would revive Barry’s suspicions. He gathered his courage and imitated his host, hopping to swallow without any problem.

He utterly failed to do so.

The taste of alcohol was so strong it immediately surprised him, confusing him much more than he thought it would. Too stunned to think, his tongue completely disobeyed him and he felt the liquid flowing in his windpipe rather than in his oesophagus like it should. The feeling of touch in there instantly gave him the irrepressible need to cough in order to expel the liquid out of his throat.

Well, that had gone well until that instant.

Barry was startled by his sudden reaction to the beverage and stood up fast, coming next to him :

-“Oh my God, Prince, are you okay ?” He asked, while patting Snatcher’s back gently, a worried look in his eyes : “I’m sorry, I didn’t think it was this strong !”

Tears started to appear in the ghost’s eyes, his throat burning too much. “ _It was just supposed to be a drink_!” He thought, irritated. He didn’t remember drinking alcohol was that difficult... Or he just spent too much time in the afterlife and simply lost the habit to.

-“I’m...” He was interrupted by a new fit of coughing before he could speak again : “I’m fine, it just... Went down the wrong way.

-Oh.” Replied Barry, visibly unsure : “Well, it happens sometimes. Do you want a glass of water ?

-No, thank you...” Drinking more liquids was the last thing he wanted to do after such an experience. He knew humans were fragile and needed to drink water every day in order to survive but he was still adjusting to his old body. This could wait a little longer. Right now, there were other things on his mind.

Barry continued to pat his back for a few seconds, until Snatcher made a sign for him to stop, thanking him silently. He didn’t like being touched : it felt... Very weird. He had lost his senses of touch and smell after he died and now... Everything was so overwhelming : the feeling of his clothes against his skin, the pain in his throat and in the rest of his body, his eyes stinging, the patting on his back, every smells floating around in the room... It was a lot to take in.

A few knocks on the door resonated through the room and brought Snatcher to reality. His eyes looked up, just in time to see the door open. Sander appeared and bowed slightly to the ghost before talking :

-“My Prince, the carriage is here to take you to the castle.”

This sentence was like a cold shower. Every muscle in Snatcher’s body froze, while his mind became blank. Horror grew inside of him as he realized little by little what that meant : there it was. The moment where he was going to see his parents... And Vanessa. He squeezed the chair armrests with his hands, so tightly that the skin on his knuckles turned white.

He didn’t want to go there. He really didn’t want to go there and meet all of them again. Why did he have to go through this ? Wasn’t eternal suffering enough of a torment by itself ? Why was this happening to him ? Sure, he did steal a few thousands souls, but that couldn’t possibly be the reason of his position here...

The ghost was snapped back to reality once again when a voice cut his thoughts :

-“Prince Alistel ?” Sander asked, now worried just as much as Barry : “Are you feeling alright ? Do you need us to fetch a doctor for you ?”

The questions triggered an alarm in the shade’s brain : he was being suspicious again. He needed to pull himself together, for the love of God ! Or, well, the love of any being other than the one who put him back in a fleshy being.

Even if the idea of delaying his _family_ _reunion_ was more than tempting, he had to come to terms with his situation. He couldn’t postpone that eternally, especially as he really needed to fix all this mess. He raised his hand, smiling grudgingly :

-“No, no, it’s fine, I just... I’m still a little shaken by my cough. I’ll ask for a doctor as soon as I arrive at the manor, don’t worry.” He tried to get up, but the pain in his legs stopped him shortly and he clenched his teeth to not make any sound. His pained expression must have been pretty easy to see, as Barry and Sander instantly came to his sides to hold his arms. Even though the sense of touching was again overwhelming, he couldn’t deny how much it really helped him. His legs hurt way less thanks to their support and standing up was easier.

-“Please don’t push yourself, my Prince. We’re going to help you get into the carriage and we’ll ask the driver to warn your servants as soon as you arrive.”

Snatcher nodded silently. He really was pathetic, wasn’t he ? Even his dumb old self was able to walk on his own. Why did his legs hurt so much anyway ? He didn’t remember hurting himself in the past... Or maybe something had happened before he woke up ? Who knew...

The two men held him straight and took him outside, this time on the other side of the doors. The sight that greeted Snatcher made his nausea come back instantly : there were houses, shops, people walking, talking, laughing, kids with dweller masks running around... All of them used to be completely frozen, buried under several meters of snow. And now... Everything was so loud and _alive_. People who were close turned towards them and smiled, as if they were glad to see him. Some of them even waved at him ! But why would they ? He was the reason they _died_ in the first place ! Well, they didn’t know it yet, but that didn’t change anything. His breathing sped up, as well as his heart beat. His vision became cloudy and he could hear a ringing noise in his ears. He felt like his body was weighing much more than usual, or at least than in the last few hours.

-“My Prince, please, stay with us !” The voices were distant but Snatcher forced himself to focus. It wasn’t over, there was so much more to do before losing consciousness like this. He straightened a little and said in a hoarse tone :

-“I’ll be fine, I’m just...” Just what exactly ? He didn’t even know himself ! How was he supposed to lie when he had no idea what was happening to him ? Sure, he knew seeing parts of his past would make him ill-at-ease, but to that extent ? What would he be like once in front of the castle ? Or in front of Vanessa ? He really started to regret his decision of coming here. If he was almost going to faint every time, what was the point of coming here ? He was supposed to look for a solution, not confirming his extremely weak and pathetic state for everyone to see !

-“It’s okay, don’t push yourself. Here, the carriage is this way.” The world started to move as the soldiers walked while holding him. When Snatcher looked up, he saw many people’s worried looks, fixed right on him, while they were talking to each other quietly. Well, too bad, he _did_ confirm his extremely weak and pathetic state for everyone to see. What was next, being thrown in the cellar once again ?

He spotted the carriage pretty quickly and let out a sigh of relief, as the guards helped him get into it. Barry gave him an apprehensive look and opened his mouth again :

-“It does seem quite serious... I can fetch a doctor for you so they can come as soon as possible to the manor, if you wish for it, Prince. That way, you’ll just have to go inside and wait for them.”

Snatcher nodded, feeling too nauseous to think clearly. He hated to be that way ! He was supposed to be terrifying and powerful ! However, now, he was just a dumb and sick human. _What a joke_.

Barry and Sander bid farewell to him and closed the door. As soon as he was alone again, the ghost put his hands on his face and let a groan escape him. This was already so hard and he hadn’t seen the _monster_ of the village yet !

A few words could be heard from the exterior of the carriage and the shade guessed that the sentinels were explaining his situation to the driver. After a while, the vehicle started moving and the motion helped Snatcher to relax and calm down. He closed his eyes for a while and took deep breathes. God, how was he supposed to do this ? He sighed and reopened his eyes again, to look through the little windows. He could see houses passing, people, statues, shops... It didn’t look like anything it had become in Snatcher’s future, and it was so weird to see it again like it used to be before... _Everything_.

But then, all of the sudden, his eyes fell on yellow hair and on a green dress. His face grew pale as blue eyes met his for a very brief moment. He immediately stepped back from the window, as a feeling of pure terror settled in his stomach.

He just saw Vanessa outside. And she saw him as well.

This was going to be a horrifying nightmare.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for ending this chapter on a cliffhanger ! I hope you'll forgive me for this, ahaha !
> 
> I'll try to write shorter chapters from now on, because they take me a lot of time to write otherwise, and I don't want to wait too long before posting anything. Like I said, my work is very influenced by my motivation and the more I wait, the more it fades out, so I don't want to take any risks. Plus, I also have to draw for each chapter and I also need time for that, so...
> 
> Anyway, thank you for reading, I hope you're still interested ! Until the next chapter, take care and don't push yourselves too hard. See you !


	4. “Hello there...”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Snatcher arrives at the manor, and he takes it very well (spoiler alert : he doesn't).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter ! I hope you'll like it !  
> Again, the art you'll see is mine.
> 
> And thank you, thank you for all your lovely comments ! It made me so happy to read your reactions ! I wasn't expecting such nice comments for this little story. Each time I receive one, I have this big grin on my face, you cannot imagine. Thank you again !
> 
> Happy reading !

Snatcher barely realized when the carriage stopped. He was too shocked to think clearly, and had been that way for the whole ride to the manor. She was _there_ ! And _she saw him_ ! A feeling of angst grew inside of him, just remembering her face, those blue eyes that met his...

He couldn’t do this. He had said this many times before, _sure_ , but now he just _knew_ he couldn’t handle _that_. He was bound to be found out ! He was incapable of keeping an impassive face just because he caught a _glimpse_ of her ! What would it be like to stand just in front of her again ? There was no way he wasn’t going to die before night came.

The one thing that woke him up from his thoughts was when the door opened, revealing a very familiar face : the one who belonged to the butler of the manor. Snatcher’s blood ran cold at the sight of him. He had the exact same face as the one he remembered : he was a man in his late forties, with a very straight posture. Simeon, his name was Simeon. He had salt and pepper hair, which used to be brown when he was younger. The servant’s face was severe and he always had a very rigorous attitude about everything. Yet, he remained nice to the members of the royal family. He was wearing a very elaborate black uniform, just like the one from the shade’s memories. The only coloured thing in his outfit was his tie, which was red.

-“Prince Alistel ?” He asked, bewildered to see him home at this time of the year. The ghost had to grit his teeth to not react by the sound of his name. Though he really had to get used to it, this was getting ridiculous.

-“Hello there...” He replied, punching himself mentally. Way to go, _completely natural_! As if this was a way for a _prince_ to talk ! The butler remained unmoving for a few seconds, confused by the ghost’s salutation. He quickly and politely replaced his puzzlement with a concerned look :

-“The driver told me you were injured. May I help you go inside ? I’ll help you go to your bedroom, where you’ll be able to stay and rest until the doctor arrives.

-Perfect,” answered Snatcher, trying his best to play his role, “Thank you, Simeon.” He had a slight doubt : did he use to call him that way ? Or did he use a nickname of any sort ? He didn’t think so but after so many years being dead, he couldn’t be _completely_ sure. His servant didn’t seem to react to his name, which reassured Snatcher a bit. At least, he was happy the other didn’t ask about his early return, perhaps not wanting to be rude.

-“You’re welcome, my Prince.” He held out his arm for the ghost to take and then helped him to get out of the carriage. He called out one of the maids in the manor, telling her to pay the driver while he escorted the shade to his bedroom.

If it wasn’t for the help of Simeon helping him to walk, Snatcher would simply be paralyzed in front of the manor. This place reeked evilness. He had been imprisoned here... He had _died_ here ! He wanted nothing more just to run without ever looking back, fleeing this place that held so many horrifying memories. This place even used to haunt him as a ghost and now he had to go _inside_ it : truly, there had to be some kind of supreme being behind all of this, making fun of his situation. This had to be a punishment for something he did, because there was absolutely _no way_ anyone deserved this, unless they enraged a god. Which he didn’t remember doing, but a lot of things did happen after his death so he couldn’t be perfectly sure. Though, that didn’t change anything : he still didn’t want to go in there.

He stopped, feeling his breath getting stuck in his lungs. His heart started to beat fast, _way too fast_. He was panicking and this wasn’t good. His head began to spin and suddenly, everything became foggy around him. He heard Simeon call his name, his _awful_ name, but it was so _distant_. All he could feel at that moment was his breathing becoming more and more erratic, the pounding of his heart in his chest, and the _atrocious_ pain in his legs, which hadn’t really stopped.

How was he still standing up ? He closed his eyes for an instant and suddenly, when he reopened them, he was on the ground. His mind was cloudy and he didn’t understand what was happening around him. His chest was going up and down rapidly. Simeon’s silhouette appeared in the corner of his vision, with other people he couldn’t recognize yet. Was it normal for a human to only see blurred things ? He guessed not. His mind couldn’t think and the fear he felt inside of him grew, grew, _grew_. It was too much : first, waking up in a human body, learning that this body used to be _his_ , discovering an unfrozen Subcon Village... Then meeting people who were supposed to be _dead_ , seeing _Vanessa_ , and now _this_ ? He couldn’t take it anymore, _he couldn’t_ , everything _hurt_ , it was too much, _too much_ for him to handle.

The last resisting part of his consciousness gave up and slowly, while he heard people panicking around him, he passed out.

* * *

Once someone was dead, they would remain on Earth either as a dweller or as a ghost, if their soul didn’t reach the Beyond where it was supposed to go in the first place. Though, coming back as a ghost was much more unusual. To do so, one had to feel intense emotions before dying, as if they were refusing to die. Their soul would then stay in the mortal plane for eternity, unable to reach the Other Side.

Ghosts never slept. They didn’t need to anymore, just as they lacked the need to eat. Most senses became dull, barely noticeable. Some spirits could still feel sensations, however, these tended to be linked to the way they perished.

If ghosts couldn’t sleep, therefore they didn’t dream. Snatcher hadn’t dreamed for centuries and that’s why he realized immediately that was he was seeing wasn’t reality. It felt too much... _Ethereal_.

He was in black void, completely empty and seemingly infinite. What struck him the most was the fact that he had regained his spectral body. He didn’t have legs and couldn’t feel them anymore, which was very reassuring. He probably was the only person in the world able to say this, but not having legs anymore was a huge relief. Though, he knew deep inside that this was only an illusion. It was _fake_.

Snatcher would bet his afterlife on the fact that his meat sack of a body had to be sleeping, even though he didn’t remember going to bed. Most of his memories were fuzzy and searching for his missing ones only resulted in a coming headache. Oh, no, _not this again_... He had much enough of that earlier.

His thoughts seemed to have influenced the progression of his dream, as the black void around him started to shift into something else. Colours appeared like paint smudges on an empty canvas. Purple was the most dominant one of them and soon, Snatcher guessed what his dream was recreating : it was Subcon Forest, the one he was familiar with as a ghost. It didn’t take long for the dream to finish reconstructing the place. The spirit could recognize every part of it, every corner of his _kingdom_. If Snatcher knew very well that what he was seeing wasn’t real, he couldn’t deny the enormous amount of comfort he felt thanks to that. All those trees, the spiders hanging from the trees, the nooses, the swamp, his minions running for their life...

He stopped his train of thoughts instantly : “ _What ?_ ” The ghost could see his minions through the foliages of the trees. Why ? What were they fleeing ? Even though this was only a dream, an alarm sound went off in his head, as he felt the urge to go and help them. He had to find the threat that was putting every one of his subject in danger and eliminate it right away. He flew over the forest, searching for the problem. His eyes looked in every direction, fixed on each potential hiding spot for someone or _something_. He seldom flew this fast but this was an emergency. If he had a heart in this dream, it would be beating in a very quick rhythm, and he would be short-winded. Fortunately, he didn’t.

“ _Where are you ? What are you ?_ ” He wondered with anger and a growing nervousness. Who or _what_ could be possibly stupid enough to try and attack _his_ kingdom ? It didn’t matter, as the cause was to die as soon as Snatcher found it.

However, just as he was about to go lower in order to inspect the forest with further attention, a gigantic smudge of white appeared in his vision. It looked like an explosion, but with no sound. It emitted a very strong light that blinded the shade. He tried to put his hand in front of his eyes to protect them, yet it remained too intense for him. The explosion was far away in the forest, though it widened in only a few seconds and it was coming right at him.

“ _Oh no..._ ” He didn’t know what it was or what caused it, however he just _knew_ that it was something bad, something _dangerous_ , even for him. Snatcher could only be hurt in _very specific_ situations and he was sure it was one of them. Could a ghost die _again_...? He didn’t even know ! What he _did_ know, though, was that he had to flee, _now_.

Without losing any more seconds, he turned around, ready to fly again. He had to find his minions and bring them to safety, quickly. As he was unable to fight whatever that whitish light was, saving his minions was his top priority. He might tell to his victims that he didn’t care about them, but it was far from the truth, if he had to be completely honest.

He flew lower, just above the foliages. He looked through it, trying to find any of them, in vain. Behind him, the light was coming closer and closer. It was approaching much faster than before and soon, the ghost realized he was too slow and wouldn’t be able to flee very long at this pace. Panic grew inside of him, as the light was approaching him, no matter how hard he tried to speed up. What was happening ? What was _that_ ?

And all of a sudden, everything around him turned white, fully white. Snatcher came to an abrupt stop, as he felt something happening to him. His fear increased as he could feel his body changing, as if parts of him were taken away from him, only to be replaced by ones that weren’t _his_. It all happened in a few seconds, but it lasted far, _far_ more to Snatcher. It wasn’t painful, yet it remained extremely _horrid_. He looked down at himself and gasped, dread settling over him : he was back in his human body. He blinked and everything around him shifted again. New smudges of paint started to appear out of nowhere, colouring the white void that had engulfed him. This time, green and light blue were the main colours, along with tints of brown. Soon, the ghost recognized the forest once again, though it was the one he woke up in. The one from his past.

He turned his head to search for any clue. Was it a recreation of what had happened ? Was the light the one he saw before waking up as a human ? Was he seeing what he had forgotten ? There were so many questions...

However, just as he was about to fly away to explore, his body refused to move. The shade looked at himself and then it hit him. He became a human... _And humans didn’t fly like ghosts could_. As soon as he realized that, he felt gravity calling his body back on the ground. It was like the floor beneath his feet had just collapsed, and now he falling, falling, _and_ _falling_ into the trees under him. And then, everything went black again.

* * *

His eyes opened, as he struggled to catch his breath again. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest and his body was hot. Sweat beaded on his forehead. Did he just have a _nightmare_ ? _Him_ ? He wondered for a few moments. His first dream as a human again, and it was a nightmare... He definitely never wanted to experience that again. At least, being dead had its perks, like being immune to that kind of things... Oh, how he missed being dead so much. Though, if this dream was true... Then falling on the ground like he did would certainly explain why everything hurt so bad, and why walking had been so difficult. What a great idea that was, floating above the trees... Well, at least he landed on them rather than the hard ground waiting for him. It probably saved him from death... And as much as wanted to be back as a spirit, he was sure that dying like this would only bring his soul to the Beyond, where he didn’t want it to go.

The ghost then shook his head, pulling himself together. The first thing he noticed was the fact that he was laying down on a comfortable surface, wrapped in something soft. Confusion spread on the shade’s face as he slowly looked at his surroundings, trying to understand where he was and what had happened. His heart skipped a beat the instant he recognized the room he was in : it was his old bedroom, the one he had when he lived in the manor. He was lying in his bed. Little by little, he regained his previous memories : he really had lost consciousness. _Great_. Now everyone knew something was going on. He clenched his teeth, annoyed at himself and at that stupid body. A frustrated sigh escaped from his lips. He skimmed the red sheets absent-mindedly with his hands, feeling the delicate texture of the fabric under his fingers. Being able to experience that kind of things again... Was nice. As much as he wanted to return to his ghostly form, he couldn’t deny how good it felt to really _touch_ something for once.

The walls were purple, with vertical vine patterns. The bottom part of the walls was made out of carved wood. The bedroom was beautifully decorated, which wasn’t really surprising, as Snatcher used to be a prince when he was alive. Even if Subcon Village wasn’t very big, its inhabitants respected the royal family tremendously.

On the shade’s left was hanged the painting of a beach, possibly made by a famous painter, but he didn’t linger very long on that thought. Next to it was a luxurious wardrobe, visibly made out of precious wood. In front of his bed was a window and the ghost realized that the sun was already setting. Did he remain asleep that long ? It was still in the afternoon when he had arrived to the manor !

-“Stupid fleshy body...” He muttered, clenching his fists on the bedcovers. Being alive was the worst !

As soon as that thought formed in his mind, a noise on his right startled him :

-“Mhmm...” The shade’s body froze in horror, as he turned his head very slowly towards the direction of the sound he just heard. Deep down, he _knew_ what it was, but he just wanted to _refuse_ this possibility. However, when his eyes met blonde hair lying next to him, he instantly felt a sinking feeling in his stomach.

 _Vanessa_ was kneeled besides the bed, her head lying on the mattress. Her eyes were closed and she was breathing calmly, which largely contrasted with Snatcher’s reaction. He couldn’t help but stare at her, not daring to move an inch. Was she... Sleeping ? Did she hear him ? But more importantly... Did she remember him the same as he did ?

He then noticed he was trembling. He couldn’t move, he was just... _Frozen_ in fear. The woman who had not only locked him up but _murdered_ him was right next to him, apparently sleeping _peacefully_. He suddenly felt very sick just looking at her. Bright and horrible flashbacks kept appearing in his mind, almost blinding him from the present. He was hyperventilating, absolutely terrified. There was _no way_ he could face her. Snatcher knew what he could do and what he couldn’t. _That_ was part of the latter category, without any doubt.

Slowly, very slowly, the ghost tried to get out of the bed from the other side. He just wanted to get away from her, _now_. The very idea of being in the same room as her, without any power to fight back if she tried something... Was frightening. He couldn’t take the risk.

He almost got his left foot out of the covers when he heard the bed shifting on his right. His heart sank in his chest as dread settled over him. He knew what it was, he _knew_ it, yet he couldn’t help but pray any god ready to listen to him. He silently asked them to get him out of this awful situation. Though, his prayers remained unanswered and soon, a _sweet_ and _gentle_ voice greeted him :

-“Alistel ?”

He turned his head in her direction, unable to breathe as his eyes locked on hers. She was smiling _warmly_ and before he was able to say or do anything, she pounced on him, locking him in a tight embrace. To Snatcher, it felt like a bucket full of cold water was poured on his already frozen body.

-“You came back !” She said against him, squeezing his body even more : “I missed you _so much_ !”

The ghost remained completely still, paralysed by fear.

He was so, so going to die. _Again_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A new cliffhanger ! Sorry, I couldn't resist ! Plus, the chapter was five pages long and... Well, the more words a chapter has, the harder it gets for me to write it, as I feel like I repeat a lot of words. And of course it takes me longer to write.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you liked that chapter ! Don't hesitate to tell me if you did, it really helps me to write the next chapters.
> 
> I really wanted to thank you for all your support, it means a lot. It's easier to actually say it, so here, you'll be able to hear my "thank you" : https://voca.ro/juajZy0l0F5


	5. “My love.”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Snatcher experiences a beautiful reunion with his ex-wife and everything goes well ! (spoiler alert : it doesn't.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a new chapter ! I hope you'll like it !   
> Please don't hesitate to tell me if you did, as my work relies mostly on motivation.
> 
> And again, thank you so much for your support, reading all your comments helps me a lot ! You have no idea how happy it makes me and how much they reassure me, really.
> 
> PS : I made a new Tumblr exclusively for my art and fanfictions, so if you want to follow me there... Here's the link : https://erekiosuncreativeideas.tumblr.com/
> 
> Anyway, happy reading !

There were very few things that Snatcher feared. _He_ was the one scaring people and stealing their soul after using them. Until very recently, the spirit’s life had been good, or at least, as good as it could be in the afterlife. After all, eternity could be both a blessing and a curse. In Snatcher’s case, it was more a curse than anything else. Without any victim to take care of, life in Subcon Forest wasn’t very _thrilling_ , to say the least. However... At the current moment, the ghost would have given _anything_ to go back to his monotonous life.

Thin but powerful arms kept him locked in a tight embrace. If he didn’t know better, Snatcher would be scared to see his soul leaving his terrified and paralysed body. His breath was caught up in his throat, and he was completely unable to move. His heart was beating too fast and he couldn't help but wonder how he was still conscious at this point.

If the shade wasn’t afraid of many things... Being held up in his crazy ex’s embrace _clearly_ was one of them.

-“I didn’t think you’d be home so soon ! Did you come back for me ?” She asked, before moving backwards in order to look at him. Light blue eyes met his and he felt panic grow inside of his chest. Her face was just in front of his, and she was _smiling_. How could she ? She had _murdered_ him !

Or, at least, if she didn’t remember... She was going to ? Time travels were so confusing...

His mind was blank and he was still unable to move. He couldn’t do this, _he couldn’t do this_ , there was _no way_ this could-

-“What’s wrong ? Aren’t you happy to see me ?” Her sweet but _worried_ voice brought him back to reality and he felt like he had just received an electric discharge all through his body. This was not good. _Vanessa_ , of all people, couldn’t know, otherwise... He didn’t want to think about it, but he just knew it would be worse than what she did to Subcon Village in the future. _Especially_ if she was the cause of this mess in the first place... In that case, he had _even more_ reasons to play his role perfectly. Meaning... He _really_ had to stop being mute each time he was taken aback by something !

-“I, uh...” An excuse, he had to find an excuse, quick ! He tried to move again but the ache in his legs woke up in consequence, giving him the only pretext he could give in such a short time : “I’m sorry, my legs still hurt.”

He did his best to smile despite the fear that was growing in him. The ghost wanted nothing more than to run away from her, but with his condition and her hazardous nature, doing so was impossible. The only option he had left at the moment was to pretend to be that _Alistel_ he had come to reject after his death.

“ _I’ll look for a way out of here as soon as I can stand up._ ” Though, he could only hope it wouldn’t be long before that.

-“And... Of course I’m happy to see you !” He lied, feeling like the words were a poison burning his tongue as soon as they left his lips : “Why wouldn’t I be ?” He added, while his mind was already making an alphabetical list of the many, _many_ reasons why he wouldn’t anymore.

The worry which had painted Vanessa’s face disappeared as soon as he reassured her. In the end, she probably was expecting that answer from him, just pretending to be upset to manipulate him. In hindsight, she used to do that a lot when they were alive. He was just too dumb and too in love with her to notice it at the time. Now, it was just obvious to him.

-“Aaaw !” She cooed, in a way that made Snatcher sick to his stomach : “Stop it, you’re making me blush !” She then laughed, though it seemed fake. It was as if she was still playing the role of the perfect princess like she used to be in his eyes, long time ago. And again, now that he knew everything about her real self, it felt just... _Wrong_. He couldn’t believe that anymore.

He wasn’t stupid like his old self.

The shade gave a sour laugh, trying to imitate her but failing nonetheless. She didn’t seem to notice it, fortunately, and changed the topic of their discussion :

-“The doctor came while you were unconscious.” She explained, looking at his legs while doing so, and then continued : “He said that one of your legs had been fractured and that it was quite impressive that you managed to walk. He healed most of it, but told us he’ll have to come back in the following days.”

The pain in his legs was certainly less intense than before. Doctors in Subcon Village were different from the others. The region was full of magic and a lot of professions used it every day. Many foreigners came to Subcon Village in order to be cured of unusual diseases. Healing magic was not easy to master; he knew that himself because even as a ghost with a lot of powers, it was hard for him to use such spells. There were a few doctors in Subcon who managed to understand this magic and use it for the greater good. If he really did have a fracture like Vanessa explained... He was grateful his old servants fetched someone who knew healing magic. Until now, the pain had been quite _unpleasant_ , to say the least. With a healing method like this... He would be standing up in less than a week, which was already more than what he could endure. However, he knew it could have been worse, so at least, it would only be a matter of a few days until he could really start to look for clues.

He was interrupted from his thoughts by his ex’s voice again :

-“What happened ?” Her tone was anxious again, yet this time it seemed genuine : “Did someone hurt you ? I tried to ask the servants, to know if they heard anything but... Why were you so injured ? Did something happen on the way back ?”

Snatcher felt his body freezing once again. This was it : the moment to use the excuse he had invented earlier that day. Though, would she believe it ? He wasn’t sure, in retrospect. He might have taken it too lightly, thinking the reason wouldn’t be as important as his return itself, but now… He regretted not having thought about it more. Snatcher looked away, not sure about what to say.   
  


-“Well ?” Her tone changed and became more insistent. She was growing impatient and that clearly wasn’t a good thing : he knew how “Vanessa” and the word “impatient” didn’t go well together.

Here went nothing.

-“Hum… Do you remember my teacher ?” He asked, uncertain about the development of the conversation. He could feel this wasn’t going in the right direction, especially when he saw Vanessa’s face contorting in annoyance, before she hid it again with a fake smile.

-“Of course _I do_.” If she was still smiling, her eyes certainly were not, thus he decided to quickly continue the rest of his made up story. She really was jealous, wasn’t she ? In a way, she always had been, until it became out of control.

-“She fell ill and became unable to teach me anymore, so she preferred to send me back here…” He swallowed, feeling his nervousness coming back at full force : “So I paid for a driver, but he refused to drive through the forest.

-Oh, the _poor one_ …” She said, visibly insincere. How could he have missed her jealousy when it was so obvious ? Was he so in love with her that he completely missed all those red flags ? Before he could keep on questioning himself, she added : “So you walked through the forest ? Alone ?”

She wasn’t believing him, Snatcher was sure of it. Or, she was doubtful at the very least. To be completely honest, if he were in her shoes, he wouldn’t trust himself either… That was a very poor excuse, after all. But it’s not like he had much time to think about it, especially with the atrocious pain in his legs earlier. Yet, now it was blowing up in his face.

If he didn’t end up frozen after their conversation, he would be ready to believe in miracles.

-“Well…What else could I have done ?” He asked, growing more and more anxious. This really wasn’t helping him, as he didn’t look as confident as he should be, if he was telling the truth. His lies were probably blatant at this point and the fact that Vanessa still hadn’t stopped him from talking was already very surprising.

-“You could have written a letter, asking for a personal driver. Why didn’t you do that ?” Her question caught Snatcher off guard and for a moment, he didn’t know how to answer it. It _was_ true : his story didn’t make any sense and wasn’t logic at all. As a prince, he had the power to request and demand such services, yet here he was, in a bed, with a fractured leg. He was just ridiculous at this point.

However, a sentence came to his mind and it took everything in him not to cringe just thinking about it. Though… It was worth a shot.

-“But…” He took a deep breath, trying to find the courage to say those horrible, _horrible_ words : “I couldn’t wait to see you.”

Silence fell in the room as soon as the sentence left his lips. He wanted to punch himself in the guts so much, just for having said them. This was the complete opposite of what truly happened. The simple idea of seeing her again had terrified him, and still did. He didn’t even know how he was able to _talk_ to her when, several hours earlier, he became a _mess_ just because he saw her through a window ! Was it the adrenaline talking ? Or just his survival instinct ? In both case, these were the only perks of having a human body again, along with the senses of touch and smell, he supposed.

Apprehension became fear, as the silence started to drag. She really didn’t believe him and now she was going to kill him. _Again_. He remained absolutely still, waiting for something to happen. However, seeing Vanessa bringing her hands to her cheeks, blushing furiously, was not what he was expecting at all.

-“Oh my goodness, stop it ! How can you say such things…” She looked away, smiling once again. Snatcher was astonished. She _did_ believe him ? Really ? Was it that simple ?

He straightened the moment she turned back to him, after a few seconds :

-“What about your legs ?”

This was the tricky part. Now that he knew that one of his legs was fractured… He couldn’t just say that he simply fell in the middle of the forest. A little fall couldn’t cause such injuries and they both knew it. Yet, he had no real excuses other than this one.

-“I, uh…Fell.” If he was alone, he would have smacked himself. Yeah, as if she was going to accept that !

-“You fell ? What do you mean, ‘ _you fell_ ’ ?”

He winced : he really didn’t like where this was going. How could he get himself out of that situation ?

-“I fell in… In a ravine.” Oh God, he should just stop talking and accept his fate, now he was just digging his own grave deeper and deeper. Yet he kept going, unable to stop : “I was walking and there were those bushes, when I tried to get past them, I…I fell in this hole.”

There was no way she was going to fall for that. This was stupid, this was absolutely-

-“Oh…!” His ex brought her hands back to her face, this time hiding her mouth, as she gaped at him : “You must have been so scared !” Her tone was compassionate, yet the ghost could feel that it wasn’t fully genuine. She was _lying_ , just as much as he was. The Vanessa he used to know would have never accepted such poor excuses. She had always been so wary and sceptical of his claims…So why was she so ready to trust him now ? It didn’t make any sense. Unless…

Unless she was the one who broke the timepiece. And if she was so willing to trust him… Maybe she _already knew_ he was lying, in the end. This very idea frightened Snatcher even more. In that case, he was in danger, playing a game with her rules and in a world where she had much more power than him socially and magically speaking. Furthermore… Who else could have wanted to break a timepiece to go back in time to this period ? She was the main suspect.

He suddenly realised that he still hadn’t answered her and cleared his throat :

-“Yes, it was quite… Frightening.” Just as being so close to her was.

She smiled and looked at him fondly. If she did remember… Her attitude was completely different to what Snatcher expected. In his mind, he imagined her going crazy just seeing him, freezing the entire village once again and locking him up in the basement for him to die a second time. But now, she was just smiling at him, without doing anything.

Truly, he didn’t know which one was the most terrifying.

He jumped when he heard a sudden knock at the door. They both turned towards it, surprised. The ghost’s heart was pounding in his chest again : he really needed to calm down.

-“Come in !” He called. His face grew pale when the door opened, revealing another face he could recognize. It belonged to one of the maids, one of the youngest ones. She had dark and short hair and had brown eyes. Her uniform consisted in a black dress with a white apron. She was also wearing a white hat with lace on top of it. He didn’t remember her name, though. Maybe because she hadn’t much time to work here before Vanessa’s outburst. That would explain why her face was familiar to him but not her name.

The woman bowed in front of them, visibly tensed. Snatcher guessed that he was right in his suspicions : she was a new maid, not confident yet. It was normal, he supposed, though he couldn’t help but have a bad feeling about this.

-“I’m sorry, I heard voices from the other side of the door.” Her voice was unsure and so was her face : “I was wondering if you would like to eat something, now that you are awake, my Prince.”

As soon as she said those last words, Snatcher felt Vanessa stiffen besides him. She probably didn’t like anyone else calling him that way… And it only made his foreboding worse.

However, the mention of food seemed to have an instant effect on his body, as a loud rumble disturbed the silence in the room. He felt his stomach twisting and he immediately hated this feeling. He had forgotten what being hungry felt like… Saliva piled up in his mouth at the very idea of eating something. It wasn’t very surprising, as he hadn’t eaten anything from the moment he woke up that day… Though, would he be able to eat ? Drinking alcohol earlier hadn’t been a success, so he couldn’t help but wonder. What if he choked himself to death ? Or spat everything out ? It all made him more nervous than he already was.

Both women looked at him, surprised by the noise coming from him. Vanessa was the first one to break the silence, laughing with that _sweet_ voice of hers.

-“Oh my, you are _starving_ !” She said, before turning her head towards the maid : “Why don’t you go fetch something for _my_ Prince ?”

Snatcher froze. She really hadn’t liked the way the servant had called him earlier.

The latter replied instantly, oblivious to Vanessa’s annoyed tone, and bowed again :

-“Right away, my Queen !” And in matter of seconds, she left the room. Once again, Snatcher and Vanessa were alone, to the shade’s horror. This feeling intensified when he saw Vanessa getting closer to him. She stood up from the ground and sat next to him on the bed, before pulling him in another _warm_ embrace.

-“I missed you so much…” She whispered, squeezing him more, all while the shade remained utterly still in her arms : “So, so much…”

He laughed grudgingly, hoping this wouldn’t last more than a few minutes :

-“Yes, me too, my…” He swallowed, hating himself even more for what he was about to say : “My love.”

The arms tightened up around him and soon, he found it harder to breathe. Whether it was because of the panic increasing in his mind or the fact that Vanessa was squeezing him a little too much, he didn’t know.

-“Say it again.” murmured Vanessa against the fabric of his pyjama.

Snatcher didn’t know it was possible for his body to become even more frozen than it already was, yet he was surprised to see there was still a margin for that. Finding the will to speak again, let alone say those words twice, even if they were just lies in the end…It was much harder than he first thought.

-“My love.” He said, amazed to see that he didn’t even stutter. He was becoming good at dealing with stressful situations with the one who not only broke his heart but also _murdered_ him.

Vanessa let out a pleased sigh and relaxed against him. Snatcher, on the contrary, was still very much unmoving. He felt like he had just avoided a painful and horrible death. Maybe that wasn’t very far from the truth, in hindsight…

Minutes went by, as his ex cuddled him silently. The ghost didn’t know what to do with himself in the meantime. The only thing he could do was respond weakly to her embrace, putting his hands on her shoulders and rubbing them in an _affectionate_ manner.

Never in his afterlife did he imagine touching her again, let alone like _this_.

When there was another knock at the door, he couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief, hoping that Vanessa didn’t hear it. He allowed the maid to enter in the room again. This time, she was holding a silver tray in her hands. However, something else struck the shade immediately.

The smell… He knew that smell, it was…!

But before a smile could appear on his lips as he understood what food was on the tray, Vanessa stood up and lunged at the maid, knocking the tray out of her uncertain hands. The action made the young servant loose her balance and she fell on her knees right next to the tray and all the food now scattered on the floor.

It was bacon and roasted potatoes.

The ghost’s eyes had followed Vanessa. The feeling of fear inside his chest became more and more intense, as he stared at the anger on his ex’s face.

There. This was the jealous monster he used to know. The one who not only killed him but all the other inhabitants of Subcon Village. No matter how hard she tried to hide who she really was… It was only a mask, something fake, a mockery. She wasn’t a perfect princess, she wasn’t the nice Queen who cared about her subjects… She was only a dangerous and unstable being, with deadly powers.

And now that he was seeing her like she truly was… He could feel his breathing speeding up, just like his heartbeat. He knew something was going to happen, he had a bad feeling and now what he feared was happening just in front of him.

-“I forbade anyone to cook _this thing_ in this manor ! I thought I had made this clear by now !”

Vanessa’s voice was loud, as she screamed those words to the maid. The latter was still on the floor, too scared to move just as Snatcher was. Vanessa’s face was red in anger, her eyes fixed on the servant’s ones, as if she was defying her to argue. The young woman was trembling, shocked by what was happening. Her breathing was erratic and soon, she started to cry. Snatcher couldn’t blame her, as he was also very much terrified.

A few moments passed where no one dared to move. The silence was unbearable. It felt like hours to the ghost until Vanessa suddenly lifted her head and looked at him, with an expression full of panic. She then turned back to the crying servant on the floor and brought her hand to her mouth, as if she had just realized something.

-“I… I…” She stuttered with a quiet voice, throwing glances everywhere around her. She seemed very agitated, not knowing what to do. However, Snatcher couldn’t help but jump again when she ran towards the door, before opening it and leaving as fast as possible.

The ghost remained unmoving on his bed, staring at the opened door, appalled by what he had just witnessed. Not far from him, the maid was still crying, this time covering her eyes full of tears with her hands. Her sobs were the only thing preventing the room from being filled with silence again.

What just happened ?

If seeing Vanessa turning into the monster she had become in the past didn’t surprise him…Seeing her panicking about it and fleeing the conversation was completely new. His ex was always the dominant one in their arguments : the shade had often been forced to be the one stopping their disagreements by apologizing. In the end, she had never given him any other choice. Yet, now… Things were very different.

He looked at the maid on the ground and winced. If he usually enjoyed to see people crying… It wasn’t the case here. He felt something akin to guilt, as he watched her sob not far away from him.

The shade really had to do something, didn’t he ? After all, he wasn’t “ _The Snatcher_ ” anymore… He was supposed to play the role of the nice and perfect prince. And what perfect prince didn’t comfort sad people around him ?

Too bad he had no idea how to comfort people.

-“Hey.” He called out to her. When she didn’t answer, he tried again, louder this time. It seemed to work, as she lifted her head in his direction. Her eyes were red, just like her face. Her cheeks were covered in tears too.

-“Don’t worry about it.” He tried to reassure her, though he wasn’t really reassured himself. Coming up with a good excuse for Vanessa’s behaviour was even harder : “She was in a bad mood, it’s not you.”

Well, it probably _was_ her, in hindsight. Though, telling her that would only make her feel worse, and as much as he loved making people feel bad… It wasn’t his current objective.

The maid silently nodded and started to clean up the mess on the floor. When she finished her task, she quietly promised him to cook him something else as soon as possible, and left the room, her head.

Things turned out much more different than what Snatcher was expecting… And he had a very bad feeling about what was going to happen in the near future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so this chapter... It's the one I'm the most insecure about. You know how each writer has their own weaknesses right ? Well, mine are dialogues. I hate writing dialogues, I always find mine unnatural and not believable. And you know what I did ? I wrote a chapter almost as long as the third one ! *cries loudly*
> 
> So... If you like this chapter, I would really, really appreciate having your feelings and impressions on it, as I'm really scared about it. I don't like to beg for comments, believe me I really don't, though I'd be lying if I said I'm not anxious about this chapter.
> 
> Anyway, thank you once again for your support, it really means a lot to me. I know I keep saying this, but it's true. I became productive again thanks to that, and I'm not exaggerating when I say I haven't been as much productive in the last two years like I've been the past month. 
> 
> I hope you're still interested in the next chapters. Take care of yourselves until then, and have a nice day/night !


	6. “What the…?”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Snatcher really enjoys being the Prince again and all that entails.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone!
> 
> I hope you'll like this new chapter! It is one of the longest (for now). Please don't hesitate to tell me your thoughts about it!  
> ALSO, YOU ARE ALL WAY TOO NICE OMG, I LOVE READING ALL YOUR COMMENTS!! THANK YOU!
> 
> The drawing you'll see in this chapter was made both by me and by my wonderful friend LazyPuck (https://twitter.com/lazypuck) !  
> I did the original sketch as well as the flat colours and she did the shading (AND DID AN AMAZING JOB AT IT BY THE WAY, THANK YOU AGAIN). Please check her drawings, they're beautiful!
> 
> Anyway, happy reading!

If regaining his senses of smell and touch had made Snatcher less unhappy about his situation… Experiencing taste had been quite different. At first, he had been afraid of choking on the food given to him. However, the action of eating had been easier than he had expected. First of all, he had been lucky to be left alone when he tried to eat the new dinner brought by the young maid. At least, no one could see him choke on anything, which had reassured him. He had taken his time and, to his surprise, he managed to swallow bits of food. The ghost had made sure to chew everything very slowly as much as possible to avoid any incident. So eating in itself hadn’t been the main problem.

Taste and textures were. After years of being dead, the shade had forgotten what food tasted like, what it felt like in his mouth and on his tongue. At first, he genuinely thought he would enjoy eating again. After all, he had felt his body demanding food earlier and the smell had been wonderful! Yet, things were much more complicated than that. Everything felt _weird_. The taste, the texture, the feeling of swallowing food, the sensation of something _moving_ in his stomach… Snatcher hated all of it. If his body seemed satisfied with the consumption of food, his mind certainly was _not_. It screamed at him, ordering him to spit everything out. Though, the ghost forced himself to ignore it, as he knew he very much needed this to survive. Plus, if magic would greatly help in the healing of his legs, it wouldn’t be enough if he let himself starve. So, reluctantly, he finished his plate.

He put the empty tray on his nightstand and let a few minutes pass. A lot of things happened and his mind couldn’t help but be focused on Vanessa’s new outburst. The fact that she had run away was… Really surprising, if not disturbing. Usually, she wasn’t the type to regret her actions. Or, at least, that wasn’t the case in the past. But now that Snatcher was suspecting her… It only seemed to confirm his fears.

Vanessa might very well be the reason behind all this mess. The more time passed, the more the contrary became unlikely. Though, in that case… He was in serious danger, even more if she was aware of his memories just like he was of hers. But if she did, why was she acting so calm and so _oblivious_? Nothing made sense anymore.

The ghost sighed. This was getting him nowhere. No matter how hard he thought about it, his mind couldn’t come with an answer. And now that he was stuck in his own bed… It wasn’t like he could get out and start looking for clues. Even though the healing magic did soothe the pain in his legs, he wasn’t sure if he would be able to walk for a long time. Plus, it would make him look suspicions to anyone seeing him. Who in their right mind would leave their bed if they were injured?

“ _I hate legs…_ ” He thought for the hundredth time, missing his old shadowy body once again. Really, who needed legs? He wanted nothing more than float around like he used to! Was it too much to ask?

The ghost groaned and stretched in the bed. Well, if he was going to stay there until he felt better to walk, at least he could get comfortable. His eyes locked on the ceiling, as boredom started to fill his head. In a way, he couldn’t help but feel a tinge of reassurance at the familiar feeling. This, he knew how to deal with. When there was no victim to take care of in Subcon Forest, time passed very slowly and he couldn’t count the number of times he had had to reread his books, again and again, hoping that _someone_ would be stupid enough to enter his forest. His routine had always been very repetitive in the end, that is until that _brat_ came. When she did, everything changed.

And now, Snatcher was in his old human body, stuck in bed with a fractured leg and nothing to keep himself busy. And all of this while being in the _same_ place as his crazy ex. Funny how Life still loved to make him even more miserable than he already was! One would think that karma had made him suffer long enough by now, but it seemed it was far from being over.

Just as he was about to sigh again -as if he had something else to do, he heard another knock at the door. He couldn’t help but jump at the sudden sound while he was quickly brought back to reality.

-“Come in!” He responded to the sound, loud enough to be heard through the thick wood of the door. The latter slowly opened not long after his invitation, revealing the butler’s face.

-“My Prince?” He said, coming in and closing the door right behind him: “I have been told you were awake. How are you?”

Simeon’s features were full of concern. His posture was very upright, as usual. He kept his hands behind his back, adopting a polite stance, an indication of his workaholic attitude. Snatcher didn’t expect him to come to check on him so soon. In the end, he had lost the habit of having people caring for him, except his minions, but it was different. Of course, there was still that clingy kid who had forced him to become her BFF…

-“I’m alright.” He replied, in the _nicest_ tone he could imitate. He smiled in a way he expected to be warm, and added: “Though I must admit there’s not much to do.” He really hoped the other could bring him something, _anything_ to keep his mind off things.

-“Oh, good lord, I am so sorry, my Prince! What was I thinking?” Simeon put his hand on his forehead, embarrassed by his mistake: “What can I give you to help pass the time?”

Snatcher took a moment to think. It wasn’t as if there were a lot of things to do. In the past, he would have probably used the time to revise his law lessons but now… He still loved the subject itself, naturally! However, he knew he would never be able to focus enough, with everything that had happened. He needed something easy and _uncomplicated_. He had too much to think and the idea to just _rest_ was very tempting. He did deserve that much, didn’t he?

-“Well… If you could bring me some books, I would greatly appreciate it.”

The butler smiled at his answer and asked :

-“Should I fetch your favourite ones, my Prince?”

The shade couldn’t help but smile at the idea of reading something new after all those years. After all, getting books in Subcon Forest had never been an easy task after his death. He had tried forcing several victims to bring him new books, though they usually took it as an opportunity to leave his forest. Unfortunately for them, he had already taken their soul so they just ended up dying without it in the end. However, that still meant no books for Snatcher.

And even if he did have read the books Simeon offered him at one point in his life… It was still far better than reading the same old books he had as a ghost, over and over again, for _hundreds_ of years.

-“Please do.” He answered, feeling something akin to _happiness_ for the first time since he woke up. Being in a fleshy body really was softening him, wasn’t it? Snatcher didn’t like that at all. It only reminded him of _who_ he used to be, and that fool was long _dead and buried_.

-“Right away, my Prince.” As soon as these words left the butler’s lips, the latter turned around and left the room quickly. Once the ghost was alone again, he let out a long sigh, relaxing against the pillow behind him. _What a day_. He let his head sink into the soft cushion and closed his eyes. He could feel everything at once: the fabric of his pyjama on his skin, the weight of his own body into the mattress, the _warm_ covers around him, his repetitive heartbeat… Every sensation was new to him. It was almost astounding.

The sun had set a moment ago and now the night was beginning. The room was only illuminated by a candle on his nightstand, next to his crown. The spirit almost wished he could get up and walk to the window to watch the dark sky: night time reassured him. Once he had been in control of Subcon Forest, the sun stopped rising and the region remained in everlasting night. However… Now that he had regained his body, something bothered him: he couldn’t see well in the dark anymore. And if darkness reassured him because it reminded him of his _home_ , it also brought back… _Memories_ he wished he could forget. Recollections of days passed in a cold and dark cellar, shackled to a wall until death _freed_ him…

Snatcher gulped at the flashbacks appearing in his mind. He didn’t want to deal with it right now. He had much enough of that earlier with _Vanessa_.

He closed his eyes again, ready to wait for Simeon. However, an unusual crackling sound woke him up from his reverie. The shade jumped at the noise and opened his eyes instantly: he just _knew_ this sound. He had heard it before.

His suspicions were confirmed when his eyes met a blinding and whitish light again. Here, floating above the ground was another crack, unattached to anything and levitating just in front of his bed. It remained completely unmoving as if space itself was shattered. The ghost blinked, very much startled by the sudden apparition. Apparently, Life had decided that the day would still hold some surprises for him to find out… And here he thought he was going to rest! _Ha!_

The crack definitely looked _bad_. It was just as white and bright as the light that had engulfed him before he turned into a human. Therefore, it only made Snatcher extremely wary of it. When he saw the first one in the forest, earlier that day, it had been harmless. But what if this one wasn’t? The spirit couldn’t be completely sure and didn’t want to take any unnecessary risk.

As slowly as possible, Snatcher lifted the blankets and got out of the bed, without breaking eye contact with the bright crack. His stance was tensed and he was ready to do… Whatever he was able to with a weak body like his. Without any power and a fractured leg in the process of healing… He wasn’t sure of getting very far, yet he could still bluff.

As soon as he stood up, the pain in his legs came back, though not as intense as it had been a few hours earlier. The ghost almost winced but held himself back, not wanting to give away his pain to something that might be _sentient_. He put the major part of his weight on the leg which was in the best condition, though it still remained painful to do so. Even if this one wasn’t fractured, it was clearly injured nonetheless.

With great caution, he took several steps forward in the direction of the breach. What _was_ it? It had to be related to the time mess going on, otherwise, the spirit really had no other explanation regarding that _thing_. Was it even _material_? When he touched the one that had appeared in the forest, it simply disappeared in a blink. Would it do the same if he tried again? Or would it be dangerous?

The ghost stayed motionless for a few seconds, wondering about what he should do. He threw a glance at the door: Simeon could come back any minute now. How would the man react if he ever saw something like that? Snatcher was the only one, not including Vanessa, to know about the timepieces and the time travel that had occurred. If the matter spread out to the rest of the servants, to the villagers… It would certainly reach Vanessa’s ears and the ghost was certain she wouldn’t like her plan to be revealed in plain sight.

If the shade had to do something, he had to do it now, before the butler’s return in the room.

Snatcher clenched his teeth and lifted his arm, not wanting to lose his courage before trying anything. His fingers reached the breach and instead of disappearing like the shade expected, it stayed the way it was. A very cold sensation greeted his fingers and he felt no resistance when he pushed them inside out of curiosity. Nothing was happening, yet the ghost couldn’t deny how _weird_ it felt on his skin. It was… Just like when he had been captured by that whitish light in his dream, being decomposed and then recomposed as a human being… As if his entire being had been remade from scratch. At the current moment, the sensation felt quite similar, yet in a very subtle way, almost ticklishly.

Alarmed by his memory, Snatcher took back his hand from the crack, afraid of reliving the same thing. He didn’t want to know what would happen to him or his body in that case…

He took a look at his finger, searching for any sign of injuries. What he wasn’t expecting, though, was the fact that the tips of his fingers had disappeared, as if it had been erased from existence.

-“What the…?” He felt his heart skipping a beat at the sight in front of him. What happened to his _fingers_? Panic started to grow inside of him, as he looked at them with confusion and fear. He shook his hand quickly, not knowing what to do to “ _fix_ ” it. Why had he been so stupid? Of course, it would have done something to him! Why didn’t he listen to his worries instead of walking into the lion’s den!

He stopped shaking his hand after a minute and then stared at his fingers. He dreaded to not see them once again. Though, when his eyes found the rest of his fingers back where it was before putting them inside the breach, he let out a cry of relief. Just what had happened?

He lifted his head towards the crack but, before he could do anything else, a flash blinded him for a second. He shut his eyes, unable to keep them opened with so much light. He heard something falling to the ground and when he did reopen his eyes, the breach had disappeared. Just as the one he found in the forest, it was as if it had never been there in the first place. Snatcher tried to search for it with his hands, trying to touch something that wasn’t here anymore. It was _gone_.

Snatcher frowned. He really felt like he was being played with and he didn’t like it _at all_. The spirit glanced around him, trying to find any clue that might be useful to him. His eyes landed on what had fallen to the ground.

-“What?” It was a piece of paper. Confusion spread on the ghost’s face, as he kneeled to pick it up. It had been folded several times and, just like the tips of his fingers, the extremities of the paper had disappeared. Snatcher shook it a little bit and his eyes opened wide when it actually worked.

He then very carefully unfolded the piece of paper. So far, this was his biggest clue and he didn’t want to risk losing it or destroying it. After all, the place where it came from did make his fingers disappear, even if just for a brief moment.

The spirit honestly expected a message or an indication about what had happened… But when he saw a colourful and poorly made drawing, he knitted his brows. What was _that_? He squinted. It was too dark for him to see it clearly. Ignoring the pain in his legs, Snatcher came back to the side of his bed where there was the nightstand. He got the note closer to the lit candle that was on it, very careful about not bringing it too close. Only then was he able to distinguish what was drawn on the picture: in the centre of it was a reproduction of the place of the village. Next to it was a crude reproduction of him, or at least of his spectral body, and on the other side… Was the drawing of a little girl with a purple top hat and a yellow cloak.

The paper fell out of his hands, as he realized what it was and _who_ drew it.

The kid… She was alive!

The ghost felt himself smiling just at the thought and quickly made the emotion disappear off his face. He wasn’t glad because she was still alive! He was just happy _his means of getting back to the present_ was somehow still alive somewhere. That was all.

A knock at his door brought him back to reality and he gave a violent start. His heart bolted at the sudden noise. Oh _God_ , why did he have to have a heart… His put his hand on his chest, feeling the organ pounding fiercely inside it.

He quickly jumped back in his bed, hiding the drawing below the covers with his body. He couldn’t let _anyone_ know about _this_.

-“Come in!” He called. Unsurprisingly, the butler was the one to open the door once again, holding several huge books in his grasp. The weight of them seemed to be quite considerable, as Simeon was visibly trying not to wince. For once since he woke up, Snatcher was amused by someone else’s suffering and had to hold back a sadistic smile. He put a fake worried expression on his face as Simeon entered the room with effort.

-“Do you need any help?” asked Snatcher, knowing very well the answer he was going to receive.

-“Oh no, my Prince, of course not!” replied the butler predictably, before continuing: “It is my duty, and most importantly, you’re injured.”

Snatcher watched with delight as the other walked to his nightstand, until the latter put the books on the surface. Simeon let out a long sigh and then straightened, regaining his usual posture.

-“Well…” He kept going, smiling warmly to the shade, completely oblivious to Snatcher’s enjoyment about his previous suffering: “Do you need anything else, my Prince ?”

As much as the ghost wanted to torment him again, he had much more important things to do. He smiled back with fake kindness and replied :

-“No, thank you, Simeon, that will be all.”

He almost let out a laugh when he saw the look of relief that passed very quickly on the butler’s face.

“ _Heh, don’t think too soon._ ” he thought with amusement, guessing he was still going to have some opportunities to mess with people a little bit before leaving this place. Now that he knew the kid was alive, _somewhere_ , it was probably only a matter of a few days at best…Or he hoped so.

The butler opened the door to leave but stopped before exiting the room. He turned around towards Snatcher and said :

-“I almost forgot! Good heavens.” He sighed and continued: “I have informed your parents about your return, my Prince. They plan to visit you tomorrow morning.”

The shade froze the instant he heard those words. His… _Parents_?

If Vanessa and the ghost lived in the manor, the rest of the royal family occupied nearby mansions. Although his parents had their own kingdom to govern, they often stayed in Subcon Village. When they didn’t, the secondary residence remained empty until their return. And from what Simeon just said to him… The spirit went back in time during one of their visits.

His breathing sped up just thinking about them. He couldn’t do that, it was _too much_. He didn’t even remember their _face_! Or their _voice_! He just knew that seeing them wouldn’t do him any good. He had a lot of mixed feelings about them if he had to be honest. On one hand, they had been very good parents and supported him in most of his life choices… On the other hand, the ghost was the reason they died in the first place, just like the entire population of Subcon Village.

He didn’t know if he could see them again after that.

No words left his mouth and he simply nodded in agreement, unable to speak. His muscles were tensed as his anxiousness came back at full force. Simeon seemed oblivious to what was going on in the shade’s mind. He merely smiled before leaving the room for good, after wishing the ghost a good night.

As soon as the other left the room, Snatcher fell back on his pillow, as his eyes fixed themselves on the ceiling. He was going to see his _parents_ again. He couldn’t do this.

Slowly, the ghost took the drawing out of the bedsheets and looked at it once again. This was his escape route, his way out of this world. The hat-wearing brat seemed to ask him to go outside tomorrow, at the place of the village. Maybe he could go there before seeing his _parents_ again and leave this place. That was something he could do. There were many things he was ready to do in his situation but meeting his parents again was _not_ one of them.

The spirit would have to convince the servants, though it probably wouldn’t be too difficult. However… The main problem was going to be Vanessa. Distracting her was his only hope of leaving the manor without her panicking over his sudden disappearance. If she ever saw him out of bed and outside without her knowing… It was best to not think about it. However, if it was a risk to take to leave… He was ready to do so.

Tomorrow was going to be a _long_ day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, the plot is starting to develop from now on, I hope you'll like the next chapters!  
> Thank you again for all your support, it really means a lot to me! 
> 
> See you in the next chapter! :D


	7. “I’m going to die. I’m going to die again.”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Snatcher makes poor life choices. And also meets other familiar faces!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: "okay so I need to write this and that, it shouldn't be too difficu-  
> My brain: "wait wait wait. What if you wrote an even longer chapter than what you originally planned, and wrote a lot more dialogues and action even though you hate writing those?"  
> Me: "uHHHH"  
> My brain: "Good, start writing then, glad we're on the same page :) "
> 
> So yeah. This chapter is by far the longest one, it has 2000 words more than the third chapter, which used to be the longest one. It's 11 pages long to be more precise.  
> Also, there is no drawing for this chapter, as writing it itself has been a little hard, so... I'm sorry about that.
> 
> I hope there won't be too many grammar mistakes, please don't hesitate to tell me if that's the case.  
> On the same topic, I wanted to apologize: I used a slur without knowing its meaning in the last chapters. Someone told me about it and I changed it as fast as I could. I want you to know that if you ever find something like this in my chapters, it's an accident. I really don't want to make anyone ill at ease or uncomfortable. Don't hesitate to tell me if it happens again, it's important to me.
> 
> Anyway, thank you for all your nice comments! Happy reading! I hope you'll like this chapter!
> 
> PS: I created a Tumblr dedicated to my stories and art, you can check it out here: https://erekiosuncreativeideas.tumblr.com

Snatcher’s plan to leave without meeting his parents was really simple. He had hidden the kid’s drawing under the mattress before going to bed, not wanting anyone to find it. And then, as soon as he would wake up, he would get up, ignore the pain in his legs and go to the village square. Of course, he would need to be discreet, to avoid being seen by any servant… It was a flawless plan! Or he thought so, though he had forgotten a very important detail: it entirely depended on the obedience of his body in order to wake up on time.

Snatcher didn’t even regard it as a threat to his strategy. Why would he? It was just an organic _thing_! A meaty body that - _mostly_ \- followed his commands! He had no doubt this cursed _fleshy vessel_ would wake him up when it was the time to get his plan into motion.

The ghost had completely underestimated Life’s enormous hatred for his existence.

What woke him up was not his own mind acting like an alarm clock as it should have, but a _touch_ on his shoulder. The shade’s eyes opened instantly as a feeling of terror took hold of him. He suddenly felt very vulnerable: he was in a fragile body, absolutely _defenceless_ against any type of danger, in a groggy state that made him even more exposed. He had every reason in the world to feel threatened! However, when he jumped in his bed, getting away from the contact as fast as he could, his eyes suddenly met Simeon’s surprised ones.

Snatcher stayed motionless for a few seconds, trying to understand what was happening, still dazed by his sudden awakening.

-“Oh my, are you alright? I didn’t mean to frighten you this much, my Prince.” The butler’s voice cut his thoughts short.

“ _Wh-what?_ ” was the first coherent thought forming in his mind, as he started to realize what had occurred: he was late. His eyes drifted to the window: it was sunny outside and a bright light passed through the glass. His eyes opened wide: he had been supposed to wake up way earlier!

-“Wai- What time is it?” He asked, too troubled to think straight. Oblivious to what was going on in his mind, the butler simply smiled at him even more:

-“Well, it is quarter to ten.” The man answered calmly before continuing: “As you were badly injured, I thought you might want to rest a little more than usual, so I let you sleep.”

This wasn’t good. This _clearly_ wasn’t good. He was late! The hat-wearing brat hadn’t specified a particular hour of the day for them to meet, yet he had the feeling that waiting wasn’t such a good idea. But making the child wait wasn’t what bothered him the most… No, it was something far more disturbing.

As if Fate had decided to team up with Life in order to make him suffer, Simeon started to talk again, addressing the topic the shade wanted to avoid at all cost:

-“I know this might be a little sudden, my Prince, but your parents are waiting in the living room.” Snatcher felt like his heart had completely stopped beating at those awful words, his face turning pale as the butler continued: “Of course, take all the time you need to prepare yourself. Let me pick up some clothes for you.”

Snatcher was only able to nod silently, too shocked to answer. His plan had been absolutely destroyed. Of course, his body would mess things up! _Again_! This was changing everything. Not only was he forced to meet his _parents_ again, of all people… But it also delayed all of his intentions. At first, he had planned to leave before anyone got up, but now… It was too late for that. People would see him outside, even if he disguised himself. There were too many risks at this hour of the day… The manor teemed with servants, all of them knowing his physical condition by now. No one would ever let him go outside if he was ever spotted out of his bed. And if he bumped into Vanessa instead of them… He simply couldn’t imagine how she would react.

Thinking about her, Snatcher couldn’t help but be extremely worried. She had had a very peculiar reaction the day before, one the ghost had never seen while he was alive. Or dead, for that matter. However, the strangest thing was that she hadn’t come back to see him again after that. The shade had expected to see her enter his bedroom, at least to wish him a good night, but she hadn’t. Of course, Snatcher had been _quite_ relieved not to see her that night, though now it was starting to trouble him the more he thought about it.

Vanessa had always been very… Clingy, to say the least. Yet, not only did she stayed away from him the previous evening, but she hadn’t been the one to wake him up either. That sudden change in her behaviour… Was very unusual and it certainly wasn’t reassuring the shade at all.

The latter was brought back to reality as the butler put several pieces of clothes on his bed:

-“There, my Prince. I took out a few from your usual ones, but please tell me if you want me to pick something else.

-No, it’s… It’s alright, thank you.” He managed to say, almost mindlessly, as he couldn’t help but focus on an issue much more urgent than his wardrobe.

He had quickly thought about leaving without concerning himself with precautions. After all, if everything would go back to how it was before, why being careful? It would all be erased in the end! Or he thought so since he didn’t know much about time travel in itself. But if the kid was waiting for him in the village square, it could only mean she had the means to take him back to the present… _Right_?

Uncertainty was one of the reasons which stopped him from going out inconsiderately. What if the hat-wearing brat had nothing to help him? He knew the kid was persistent, yes, but there was no guarantee she would be able to reverse everything. She had only drawn him a picture! It was hard to draw conclusions from a poorly made message! He couldn’t be sure until he really met her in person.

The other reasons… Well, they mostly revolved around Vanessa and especially her reactions. She did freeze an entire town just for a ludicrous misunderstanding… But if everything was to be reversed, why did he care?

The realization took him by surprise and he found himself unable to answer it.

“ _I… Why?_ ” He wondered as a feeling of dismay grew inside of him. All these people had perished once! _He_ had died too! Why did he care if they died again?

-“My Prince?” Simeon’s voice prevented him from thinking more about it and he couldn’t help but feel grateful for his interruption. It wasn’t like he didn’t want to think about it… He just had more important things on his mind and he couldn’t take more time to think about them when he had a whole strategy to reorganize.

-“Yea- Yes?” He corrected himself. Hundreds of years really did change him. He wasn’t a Prince anymore and hadn’t been for a very long time. Snatcher was convinced he was right to correct himself when a look of confusion crossed the butler’s face.

Simeon was much more observant than he first thought… If he had to be very cautious around Vanessa, it now also applied to the man, apparently. If the shade was found out… It would make his position more complicated than it already was. Considering how loyal Simeon was to the royal family… Taking risks with him was out of the question.

-“I’m sorry, I’m just…” He shut his eyes and held up his hand in an apology gesture, as he started to lie: “I think I’m still tired.”

His excuse seemed to work, as the butler’s face became amicable once again.

“ _That was close…_ ” Thought Snatcher.

-“Don’t worry, it is perfectly understandable after what you have been through.”

Snatcher let out a smile in answer, as his eyes drifted to the blankets, as he considered his options.

He could always try to convince Simeon he was feeling too sick to see anyone, though he wasn’t sure it would work, as the older man was starting to become wary of him. The ghost could also take the risk of leaving without caring about the consequences, yet he couldn’t help but feel unsure about the idea.

And there was still the “ _Vanessa issue_ ”…

-“Simeon?” He asked before the butler left the room.

-“Yes, my Prince ?”

The spirit didn’t want to broach the subject, however, he had to take everything into account… And that certainly included his crazy ex and what she was doing.

-“Vanessa was… _Upset_ yesterday. How is she today?” He asked, faking a worried tone. In the end, the only worry he felt was not about the Queen’s state but more about what she _might_ do. The man winced, which was enough to tell Snatcher that he knew about what occurred the day before. The young maid had probably talked about it to the rest of the servants.

-“Well…” Simeon looked away, before answering hesitantly: “She ate her breakfast in her room this morning and still hasn’t come out.”

This was _alarming_. Vanessa used to sulk when they were alive, yes, but from something she had done _herself_? The spirit couldn’t remember anything of that sort. All the times she passed in her room, not wanting to talk to him, were because of things he _apparently_ did. Yet, the situation was very much different in the present. It was like she had felt… _Guilty_ about what she had done. That was enough for the ghost to know that something was going on.

Seeing his lack of answer, Simeon continued with a suggestion:

-“Should I fetch her?”

The question took Snatcher aback, forcing him to put his thoughts aside once again. Fetching her? He didn’t have a death wish! Those were for the brat he was supposed to join today, not for him!

-“No, than-” However, just as he was about to refuse, he stopped himself.

If he never solved whatever was happening in his back… He had a bad feeling it would come back right at him one way or another. With Fate and Life on his heels… It was just as dangerous, only delaying the inevitable. If escaping was that easy… He would have done so, way before. He had to stay for a night, it could very well happen once more.

There it was again: uncertainty.

As a ghost, he used to have his powers to defend himself and only a few things could actually hurt him… But as a human, any risk could lead him to either die or being shackled in the cellar once again. He had to be careful and if it meant staying with Vanessa for a while in order to make her feel better… The shade had to do it, despite how much he loathed the very idea of being in the same place as her.

-“Wait, yes, please ask her to come.” The words almost burnt his tongue as they left his lips. Being a human was the worst, oh what he would give to get himself out of this situation…

He gave Simeon a weak smile as the latter nodded in agreement:

-“Right away. I will keep your parents waiting for when you’re ready.

-O-Of course…” He replied, still smiling until the man _finally_ left the room. As soon as the shade was alone again, he put his head in his hands and groaned lengthily. This was going to be _awful_ , wasn’t it? First Vanessa, then his _parents_ , without any guarantee to be able to leave afterwards… Oh, that day was _perfect_ , truly _excellent_!

He took a deep breath and lowered his hands. Why did _everything_ had to be so _complicated_?

His eyes fell on the pile of clothes on his bed. The shade almost straightened to put them on before stopping himself. If Vanessa was going to come in… He certainly didn’t want her to enter the room while he was still dressing up. So he lied back again onto his pillows and waited, looking at the ceiling silently.

Meeting his parents again… He couldn’t believe it. If someone had told him that a few days ago, he would have laughed at the person’s face instantly. Now… Well, things had changed for the worse. At least, if he had to find anything positive in reopening old wounds… His parents had always been very nice to him and had supported him in most of his life choices. His father had always been more severe than his mother, but always for his sake. They hadn’t been very happy about him wanting to study law abroad but they had loved him enough to accept his decision.

Vanessa’s parents, on the other hand… While the ghost had never met her father since the latter died before he met Vanessa, he did have known her mother. If he had to be completely honest on the subject… Maybe she had been scarier than Vanessa herself. The spirit had always been nervous around the old woman and had often tried to avoid her when it was possible. _Fortunately_ , the old Queen had an _accident_ and was no longer living at present. Regarding the causes of the incident… The shade had his suspicions for what truly happened. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, in the end.

The spirit started in his bed when a knock at the door interrupted his thoughts. Ignoring his fast-beating heart, he let out a hesitant “ _come in_ ”, as a feeling of dread settled over him. “ _What could possibly go wrong?_ ” He thought, full of sarcasm.

The Queen opened the door slowly and Snatcher’s body froze immediately. His eyes met her blue ones, though she quickly looked away before closing the door right behind her. Did she just _avoid_ his stare? The Vanessa he knew _never_ looked away after a fight. Then why?

The room was completely silent as none of them dared to speak. A heavy tension settled around them, almost palpable. Snatcher didn’t know what was more terrifying between being in the same room as his own murderer or the fact that she stayed silent and motionless.

This was getting ridiculously frightening.

-“So…” He had no idea how he managed to be the one to speak first. He could feel the fear inside of him growing and growing each second. His heart was beating fast and keeping his breath under control was _extremely_ difficult. Anyone could have seen how scared he was, despite him hating the idea of people noticing it.

The Queen remained silent for a few more seconds. Her face had a dark expression and her eyes were locked to the floor. It was easy to understand that she had something on her mind. Snatcher couldn’t help but be both surprised and wary about that: she had never been the type to feel guilty, let alone the type to admit her mistakes. Thus, seeing her like this… Was not reassuring _at all_.

The ghost could feel his hands shaking slowly. He held his grip on the covers tight, hoping that it would stop the reaction. The fake smile he was keeping on his face started to crumple and it wouldn’t be long before he lost his “ _happy facade_ ”. That was it. This was when she was going to kill him or just throw him into the cellar again.

He always _knew_ that she would unmask him.

Eventually, she sighed and came closer, troubling the spirit even more. He couldn’t tell if he was relieved or scared to finally see her do something else than just standing in front of his bedroom door. She gently kneeled beside the bed, her face still full of something akin to _sadness_ and _guilt_. It only made Snatcher more sick to his stomach than he already was. Silence greeted him again and he wondered if he should say something, _anything_ to _break the ice_. At this point, he had absolutely _no idea_ about what to expect from his ex. He opened his mouth to talk once again but was cut short when she spoke instead:

-“I… I had a dream last night.” Her tone was low and uncertain, two words which heavily contrasted with her personality. The ghost held his breath, too scared to move or to interrupt her.

-“It was more a nightmare than a dream, actually…” She paused before taking a deep breath: “I was home, reading something in the living room. You were next to me, looking through the window. I lifted my head and I asked you what you were thinking about.”

She let out a sob as she stopped to breathe again, falling apart right in from of the spirit, who could do nothing but remain very still at the sight:

-“You got up and ignored me. You left the room, so I followed you. You came out of the manor and walked into town, but you wouldn’t listen to me… You kept moving forward, pushing me behind when I tried to stop you.”

Snatcher felt the world collapsing around him, horror engulfing him the more she talked:

-“And then…! And then…” She hid her eyes with her left hand, as her other one came on top of Snatcher’s right one. The shade froze even more at the contact and his heartbeat increased as he witnessed her break down, unable to do anything.

Suddenly, he felt a cold, _freezing_ sensation on his right hand.

-“Then you came to that flower shop… You came for that girl, that woman… And you _left me_.” Vanessa looked up, her blue eyes filled with an indescribable emotion. Anger? Sadness? Despair? The shade didn’t know. Though, he was _very much aware_ of the feeling on his hand, as he stared at it in complete fear.

-“You remember too. You know I’m not talking about a dream, _don’t you_?” She asked, in a murmur, yet it seems so, _so very loud_ for Snatcher.

She knew. She knew, she knew, she _knew, she had always known it was him_.

He looked back at her, throwing away any try to keep his calm. His face contorted in absolute terror as he saw Vanessa’s expression again. Her teeth were clenched and _anger_ wasn’t enough to describe her current emotion. She was _livid_. Her eyes were fixed on him, though not directly. It was as if her stare went right through the shade… As if she wasn’t herself.

Yet, to Snatcher, she was _exactly_ herself at that moment.

His silence was worth every possible answer she could get:

-“You left me! You _abandoned_ me!” Vanessa’s grip on his hand tightened and the freezing sensation intensified until he couldn’t feel his fingers anymore. However, he didn’t even notice it. After all, all his attention was focused on one single thought: “ _I’m going to die. I’m going to die again._ ”

The sensation of cold seemed to grow and spread out on the rest of his arm, slowly extending to his forearm.

The ghost couldn’t scream. As much as he wanted to, his voice was stuck in his throat and his body remained still, despite his survival instinct screaming at him, ordering him to flee, to move away, to escape, _anything_! Yet, his body stayed motionless, _frozen_. “Not literally but soon to be” more precisely.

That thought seemed to bring him back to reality. He had to do _something_! Acting without thinking, he took back his hand out of his ex’s grasp and jumped out of the bed, as far away from her as he could in such a short time. His back hit the wall behind him. A sharp pain woke up in his legs from the sudden move, but that wasn’t all. His right hand hurt as well and when he looked at it… His skin had a worrying blue tone with red little lines on it. _Frostbite_.

Panic made him look up once again, terrified of seeing Vanessa chasing after him. Yet, when his eyes fell on her, she hadn’t moved from her spot. She was looking at her own hand with icy tears rolling on her cheeks, shaking like a leaf.

-“… Sorry… I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to, I…” With a wavering voice, she kept murmuring apologies, without even looking at him. Little by little, the sobs coming out of her transformed as she burst into tears. The silence was quickly broken as cries escaped from her opened mouth and resonated in the bedroom.

Snatcher watched, bewildered by what he was seeing. What was happening? Why was he not dead yet? Why was Vanessa… Crying instead of freezing him to death just like she had planned to? Why was she apologizing? She was trying to kill him again, why didn’t she keep going, why did nothing make sense anymore?

Pounding sounds started to get closer to them and Snatcher realized too late that what he was hearing weren’t the sounds of his own heartbeats, but rapid _footsteps_ -

Though, before he could finish that thought, the door opened swiftly and several figures entered the room in a panicked manner. The ghost jumped at the sudden apparition, his eyes fixed on every person who came in. Simeon was one of them, standing in front of the others, looking around in hope of understanding what _happened_ here.

The others in the back… Were none other than his own _parents_.

His heart skipped a beat when he recognized them instantly, despite not having seen them for hundreds of years. The red curly hair of his mother, the brown hair of his father… Her round and gentle face and his stern but worried one… They looked just like he remembered. His mother was wearing a long and beautiful brown dress. The front was black, while the rest of the dress had vine patterns. She was wearing long black gloves and a black necklace. The sleeves of the dress were flared, so much that her hands were barely visible. His father had a formal costume. The jacket was dark blue and it was buttoned up. His pants had the same colour than the jacket, perhaps in a slightly darker tone. The man was also wearing a black tie, which was matching the black top hat he was holding in one of his hands.

Nichole and Lucian, Snatcher’s _parents_ , were standing in the room. _In the same room as him_.

And they were _staring_ at him.

His father was the first one to speak :

-“What in _heaven_ ’s name is happening _here_?” His severe voice made the shade’s breathing stop, as a very strong surge of feelings overwhelmed him. It was _his_ voice, his _father’s_ voice. He remembered what it sounded like and it was just like that. The older man’s eyes were fixed on the ghost, waiting for an explanation, but all the shade could do was stare back in disbelief. They were here. With him. Not frozen under several feet of snow.

 _Alive_. Just like he was.

-“Alistel!” His father called out to him one more time, yet Snatcher was unable to answer. Instead, he felt his eyes stinging and his vision slowly becoming blurry the more he looked at them. He blinked several times but the sting continued and even intensified. He brought his left hand to his eyes, rubbing them mindlessly, only to feel something _wet_ on them. That’s when the realization hit him, just as if he had been hit by a train violently.

Was he… _Crying_? Him? The ghost that had taken so many souls, that had _murdered_ so many innocent _people_ … _He_ was crying?

-“Sugar?” A sweet and worried voice then resonated as well and Snatcher’s eyes drifted to the _woman_. His _mother_.

-“What happened?” She asked too, though Snatcher couldn’t help but ignore her words as he focused on her voice instead. It was _her_.

The spirit felt a lump in his throat and a sob escaped him while tears rolled along his cheeks :

-“It’s you… You’re here… You’re actually _here_ …” His voice broke after he pronounced the last words, his eyesight now nothing more than a blurry mess. His parents looked at each other, confused by what he said. He _hated_ this. He _hated_ this body. He _hated_ to be in this situation. He wanted nothing more than to leave this place and never return. This was the _worst_ thing that could happen to him, the _absolute worst_ -

A quick movement caught his attention, with green moving in the corner of his vision. Vanessa had stood up and he barely had the time to see her fleeing the room, soon followed by the panicked butler. A feeling of fear engulfed him, as he thought about what she could do in her state. T _hey were all going to die_. The last time she fled to cry about him, she had frozen the entire village, and now that she had discovered he remembered just like she did… Snatcher himself had no idea about what she might do. How long would it take for him to hear her scream just like the last time? To see guards coming in the room to take him and lock him up in the cellar? Everything was repeating itself.

An unbearable silence fell once again in the room. The only sounds which could be heard were Snatcher’s heavy breathing and his father tapping his foot on the floor impatiently.

-“Well?” He demanded again and, this time, the ghost found the courage to answer:

-“She…” What could he say? If he said anything about what she had tried to do… He supposed that would only bring _more_ awful things. Well, in a way… He couldn’t see how things could turn even _worse_. Before he could stop himself, words left his mouth as he tried to come up with the best possible excuse in such a short time: “I… I told her I planned to leave soon.”

It wasn’t a lie, in the end. Only an omission regarding _where_ and _when_ he planned to leave. Only if he had time before she killed them all. _Again_. What could he do? Fleeing would only make things worse, as she would try to stop him even _harder_. On the contrary, if he tried to calm her down, she might freeze him to death just to make him shut up.

The only thing reassuring him was that… _She had apologized_. And Vanessa rarely apologized, especially in situations like these.

What if she just locked herself in her room just like she had done the day before? Hoping was all he had left in his position.

Snatcher’s parents stared at him for a few seconds, and he carefully hid his injured hand on his side. They _couldn’t_ see it.

-“And she pushed you out of the bed because of that?” replied her mother, both perplexed and confused. He couldn’t blame her, it _was_ a bad excuse after all.

-“… Yes?” His hesitant tone didn’t fall on deaf ears: his father’s expression became more severe as he retorted:

-“You just came back only to leave again? What are you, a spoiled child? Is this a way to treat those who welcomed you back? Those who called a doctor for you? That’s not how we raised you!” His father’s face reddened as his anger grew more and more: “And all for what? Because your teacher is sick? You decided to come back only for a few days, without informing Vanessa’s kingdom first? Then you crossed the forest, _alone_ , only to sprain your ankle and to break your leg? And now you made Vanessa cry? I simply _cannot_ believe this is what happened. We raised you much better than that!”

His mother tried to calm her husband, though it did little to help :

-“My dear, please stop…”

Snatcher remained motionless for a few instants, as his mind slowly processed everything that had been said to him. Was his father… _Lecturing_ him? After everything the ghost had been through, being shackled on a wall, locked in a cellar, being _murdered_ , dealing with afterlife for _hundreds of years_ , _he_ was the one being _lectured_?

 _How ironic_!

A sour laugh escaped his lips, as he straightened, ignoring the pain both in his legs and his hand. This was hilarious! _He_ , a ghost that had lived so many years and killed hundreds of people, was being lectured by his formerly dead _father_? What a _joke_!

-“Are you laughing?” asked his father with clenched teeth: “Do you mind sharing what’s funny with us?”

He stopped laughing, not amused anymore. Anger was growing in him, little by little. _No one_ could tell him what to do or scold him. They didn’t know _anything_! They had _no idea_ about what happened! But _he_ did!

-“You think you can lecture _me_?” He asked, though it wasn’t really a question in itself.

-“I beg your _pardon_?” His father replied with an outraged tone, glaring at the shade furiously: “I would like to remind you that the _only_ reason you can study law abroad is that we _agreed_ to.

- _Get out._ ” The word escaped from his lips, as he returned Lucian’s glare with as much rage as he could convey: “Get out!” He repeated, now screaming just as loudly as Vanessa, as he stood up, not paying any attention to the pain in his legs.

His parents looked at him, astonished by his sudden reaction. After all, it immensely contrasted with how he used to be before dying, when he was the _kind_ and _dumb_ Prince he used to be. But things had changed, lives had been lost and hearts had been broken.

He would never go back to how he used to be… And those people in front of him were not his parents, only the Prince’s ones. But he was not him anymore. He had become a soul-stealing ghost and _nothing_ could change that and _especially not_ time travel.

-“I have no idea what has gotten into you, but we _won’t_ accept that behaviour from you!” His father retorted in a tone that was nothing but livid. Next to the man, Nichole was crying in his embrace, not looking at the spirit since his outburst. Seeing her cry caused a sudden pain in his chest but he decided to ignore it. It was just his body acting against him once again. He was not their son anymore. He had been done with this life for hundreds of years!

-“Get out, get out, _get out_!” Snatcher repeated, louder and louder, wanting nothing more than not to see them anymore. The pain in his chest intensified, however, his fury was strong enough to conceal it. This was just a trick from this fleshy body. _Nothing else_!

Lucian glared at him for a few seconds. The only sounds in the room at that moment were Snatcher’s breathing and Nichole’s sobs in the man’s chest. It lasted less than a minute but it felt much, much longer to the spirit. Eventually, the man shook his head and turned to his wife :

-“Let’s go, Nichole.” He put his arm on her shoulders and took her to the door, which he opened for her. She exited the room, sobbing in a white handkerchief, disappearing from the ghost’s vision. The man then turned to him once again and spoke in a very low voice :

-“That’s it, we’re leaving. You can forget about those law studies. Maybe you’ll realize how nice we were, by letting you do what you wanted.”

“ _Law studies?_ ” He scoffed at the idea: “ _Yeah, right, as if I still needed them._ ”

-“Whatever.” He simply replied, leaning against the wall behind him to ease the pain in his legs.

Lucian glared at him once more before exiting the room as well, following his crying wife. As for the shade, he remained a few moments unmoving, trying to process everything that just occurred. Very mixed feelings grew inside of him, mostly anger but also… Sadness? _How ridiculous_!

Yet he could feel his vision blurry again, just like the stinging sensation coming back in his eyes. He quickly brought his left hand to his face, rubbing his wet eyes. This was nothing more than his body doing things on its own! He wasn’t _sad_! Those people weren’t his parents anymore!

Then why was he feeling so _bad_ about what just happened?

He let himself slide against the wall and sat on the floor once more. He hid his face in his hands as sobs left his mouth, unable to stop himself. His fingers intertwined in his hair, pulling it more and more, as if he wanted to erase his feelings by causing pain instead. But it just made him feel worse.

He had no idea how long he stayed on the ground, crying alone. It might have been minutes, hours… He didn’t know exactly. After a while, his sobs stopped, having no more tears to cry.

 _Enough_. He couldn’t take it anymore.

He stood up again, still ignoring the pain in his legs, even if it was less intense than the day before. He eyed the pile of clothes on his bed with an expression of rage painted on his face. He was going to make everything go back to how it was before. And if Vanessa decided to freeze everything in the meantime… Well, he didn’t care. That was it, he was _sick_ of _everything_. The shade didn’t want to stay there any more second in this room, in this manor, in this whole _period_.

He was going to find the kid and she was going to _fix_ everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO. MUCH. THINGS. HAPPENING. UUUGH.  
> Well, the plot is going to evolve even more from now on, so I hope you're still interested in this story!
> 
> Thank you again for all your support, it means so much to me, you have absolutely no idea.
> 
> If you want news about how the writing is going, you can try my new Tumblr, I'll try to post WIP things there : https://erekiosuncreativeideas.tumblr.com


	8. “I don’t need your pity.”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Snatcher reunites with a familiar brat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! I hope you're all going well!
> 
> This chapter was supposed to be wayyy longer but... I couldn't see the end of it and, at one point, I decided to split it. If I didn't, it would have taken far more time to finish it and I didn't want to keep you guys waiting too much, especially after the previous chapter.
> 
> I originally drew three pictures for this chapter, but since I split the chapter, the first two drawings will be in this chapter and the last one will be on the next one. I'll probably draw something else for chapter 9, again.
> 
> In any case, I hope you're still interested in this story, and I hope you'll enjoy this chapter! Please don't hesitate to tell me your impressions, as they really help me to find motivation.
> 
> PS: if you want to see how the writing is going, you can go on my art/fanfiction blog : https://erekiosuncreativeideas.tumblr.com/
> 
> Happy reading!

Snatcher had had enough. He was sick of everything. This was way too much than what he signed up for - _HA_ \- and it had been the final straw. Not only did he almost die - _again_ \- but he had seen his parents, only to fight with them.

This had to stop: that was what he was thinking while dressing up. He chose a long blue tunic with a hood, and brown pants. He also found black boots in his wardrobe and put them on. Standing up was still painful, though anger managed to keep his mind focused on other things. He tried to remember the way to the village square, only succeeding in getting quick flashes full of colours in his mind, but nothing more. The shade supposed it would come back to him once he walked there. After all, that was what had happened when he had entered the village for the first time.

He came closer to the mirror in the room and looked at his reflection. His face was very pale and his eyes were swollen and red. His hair was a mess too. Well… On the bright side, no one would recognize him at first glance, which was exactly what he wanted. Plus, he looked more like a ghost than a human at that moment! At least, that was a more usual appearance to him.

He put the hood on and stared at himself: no one would be able to recognize him like this. _He_ barely did.

He turned back to the bed and crouched beside it, wincing at the pain caused by the action. Very carefully, he lifted the mattress in order to take back the kid’s poorly-made drawing. He didn’t like the idea of leaving it behind. Not because he found it _cute_! _Absolutely not_! He only disliked the feeling of leaving proofs behind him, that was all. _Nothing more_.

He shook his head, determined to forget his last train of thoughts. He stood up once again before putting the drawing in the left pocket of his pants. Only because no one would find it there. _Obviously_.

He cast a last glance at the room: he was _definitely_ notgoing to miss it. On the wall touching the headboard of his bed was hanged a painting which featured both him and Vanessa. He held back a shiver at the sight of it. He had noticed it before, of course, but he had a _much better_ view now that he was further away from it. He wanted nothing more than just rip the _prince_ ’s smile from the painting. _What a fool_.

He felt the anger coming back and walked to the door with heavy steps. He was _so done_ with everything. He opened the door bluntly and stormed off. There was no one on the third floor to stop him, allowing him to go down the stairs without meeting any resistance. When arriving on the second floor, he could hear Vanessa’s cries from where he was. The ghost rolled his eyes: she wanted to cry? Whatever. He didn’t care. As long as she didn’t freeze him and the village, that is.

He ignored her and kept going downstairs, meeting one of the servants on his way to the ground floor.

-“My Prince?” they called out to him, more than surprised to see him out of bed. Snatcher simply ignored them, dismissing them with a quick hand gesture. He had no time for that and, even if he did, he didn’t want to stay there any second more than necessary.

His face must have shown those exact thoughts since the servant stepped back instantly, not insisting more. _Good_. The ghost passed them and quickened his pace. Now that someone had seen him, they would get help to try and reason with him. And Snatcher very much prefered to be outside before Vanessa found out about him running away.

The shade finally arrived at the ground floor and passed another servant. The latter didn’t even get the time to try anything as Snatcher silenced them just like he did for the first one. The other fled, presumably only to get Simeon as fast as possible.

“ _I have to get out of here now._ ” The butler would probably do anything to stop him, especially if it was an order from Vanessa. The ghost crossed the main hall, happy to see that no one was in the room other than him. The other servants were most likely trying to cheer Vanessa up or, at least, do something that wouldn’t make her angrier.

The spirit walked to the huge door of the manor and pushed it open. A bright ray of sunlight blinded him for a brief second until his eyes adjusted. The wind caressed his face and the ghost took a deep breath, filling his lungs with fresh air. He hated to admit it, but that was something he would miss, after regaining his spectral body. Feeling things… That was _nice_ , even if it hadn’t lasted long.

He forced himself to stay focused: he couldn’t lose more time. Without looking back, he passed the door quickly and closed it behind him. His eyes fell on the big area between the mansion and the first houses of Subcon Village. _Why_ did he have to have legs?

He groaned and began walking again, clenching his teeth in frustration.

“ _It’s only for a little while, it’ll be over soon…_ ” However, it did very little to energize him. This was going to be a very _long_ day… But how hard could it be? It was just walking! The hat-wearing brat could run just fine, why wouldn’t he be able to walk? This was nothing more than a mindset problem! If he wanted to, he could ignore the pain and walk just fine!

* * *

The ghost was, in fact, _not_ fine.

Not only was the pain becoming more and more unbearable after arriving at the village, but having a crowd around him was starting to make him feel _quite_ dizzy. No one had seemed to recognize him yet, _fortunately_. However, the noise all around him was so _loud_ , so _unusual_ to him, that he couldn’t help but feel nauseous. Furthermore, people kept touching him on accident. Sometimes it was _almost_ unnoticeable, but other times it was more violent, with children running into him while they played. Being surrounded by people made it harder to find fresh air as well. The superposition of all those sensations… It was more than overwhelming. When he had woken up, it had felt nice to sense them again, after all those years being dead… Though, now, it was nothing more than pure torture to the shade. Everything was too much, too much, _too much_.

The spirit distanced himself from the rest of the crowd, to rest on a nearby bench. Sitting down was just what he needed. He kept his legs outstretched to ease the pain and rested for a while, watching the crowd moving before him. It was so… Surreal. All those people used to be ice statues two days ago… And now they were walking just in front of him, as if nothing had ever happened! Which, in a way, was the case because of that time travel problem? He wasn’t an expert, that was more the kid’s forte rather than his.

Speaking about the said kid, he looked at his surroundings. He had followed the crowd, hoping it would lead him somewhere he would recognize… But it only lead him where he was now. Was he close or far from the square? He had no idea. The place looked familiar, yes, but _everything_ did. The spirit used to live there after all. However, his memories were fuzzy and with all the people walking and talking around him… Thinking was _difficult_. He could feel a migraine coming with just the loud noise of chattering.

“ _Oh no, not again._ ” Feeling physical pain really was something he wouldn’t miss, along with his stay in Subcon Manor. He shut his eyes, trying to ignore everything, in vain. All his senses were attentive, trying to catch any information they could get. His sense of touch could feel the draught of people passing right next to him, the heat produced by their fleshy body, the bench under him, the rays of sunshine on his face… His sense of smell caught many sents, not all of them enjoyable to him. He wrinkled his nose in displeasure, trying to focus on something else, _anything_. Finally, there was his sense of hearing: he could overhear people talking to each other, the sound of carts passing near him, rapid steps from children, their high laughter bothering him quite a lot… However, another noise caught his attention. It was… Water? Water being splashed not far from where he was?

He knew that sound. He had heard it before, he was sure of it. Snatcher stood up mindlessly, as vivid pictures appeared in his mind: memories he had done everything to forget, flashbacks of this village and of its various parts, even unimportant details… Now he knew where he was. His legs had subconsciously taken him _exactly_ where he was supposed to go.

Snatcher made several steps towards the sound, pushing people out of his way as he passed the next building. His eyes fell on the one thing he was searching for: the village square. It was a place full of people, with several shops on the side. On the centre was a pond, from which came out a pole. The kingdom flag was attached to it and fluttered with the wind. The pond was surrounded by a wooden fence, opened on his side of the square. Kids were playing in the water, splashing each other while giggling stupidly. The shade looked at them, hoping to find the brat he was supposed to meet among them. However, even if he couldn’t see their face because of their masks, he knew she wasn’t among them.

That’s when he realized something: how would she be able to recognize him? He was back in his old human body, in a time period where her grandmother wasn’t even born yet!

With sudden fear, he took the drawing out of his pocket in order to look at it. His eyes widened when they fell on his representation: she had drawn him just like he used to look with his spectral form, not like his human one. She had no idea of what he looked like now. What if she was waiting for his ghost version to show up? If the kid was hiding, trying to find him first… Then she simply wouldn’t. What should he do in that case? What if he never found her at all? Or what if-

However, before his mind could find any other possible worst-case scenario, he was hit by something in the head.

-“Ouch!” He brought his hand to his head to rub the painful spot. Something fell right next to him and he lowered his eyes to examine it. It was a pebble, next to his shoes. He rose his eyebrows: did someone just-

As he was about to look up in order to find whoever hit him, he felt another bump on his hood, missing his head by very little. Alright, _that was it_. Someone had just signed their death warrant. The ghost lifted his hands, ready to strike anyone in range with his powers, but quickly put them down. No powers left, how could he have forgotten… Still, his eyes inspected the crowd, searching for the stupid person who had tried to mess with him. He looked, and looked, and looked, before staring at a particular mask visible among the mass. This one looked different than the others… While the latter looked like foxes or pink rabbit masks, this one was dark green and had some sorts of long antlers on the top of it. It is only when Snatcher looked a little lower that he saw the yellow cape and purple dress that he was searching for so much.

It was her! It was the kid! She was staring at him behind the wooden fence and waved at him.

The ghost remained motionless. Did she know it was him? But how? She did throw pebbles at him to draw his attention, though the spirit had no idea how she had guessed it was him, from all the people walking around them.

Before he was able to think more, the masked child walked backwards and gestured him to follow her, while maintaining eye contact. Or, well, Snatcher supposed she did, as the mask prevented him from seeing her face. The shade moved towards her, not wanting to lose her among all those people. He did wince from the pain, but it was nothing new at that point. He forced himself to focus on what was important rather than that and tried to follow her through the crowd. He had to push several persons aside, lowering his head not to be seen as he walked close to others. Keeping up with the little girl from the corner of his vision, he quickened his pace. Where was she taking him? Wouldn’t it be easier to take him with her onto her spaceship, by teleporting them away or whatever method she used? Why was she trying to take him somewhere else?

They finally stepped out of the mass of people and Snatcher saw the kid entering a dark alley, far from the main square. She wanted discretion? He could do that, though, was it necessary since everything was to be erased in the end? Well, time travel wasn’t his strong point, maybe he got it all wrong.

He entered the alley a few seconds after her. He could see her a few steps away from him, having finally stopped walking away. Just as he was about to call out to her, she took off her mask and replaced it with her usual top-hat, before giving him a bright and happy smile:

-“Snatcher!” The ghost didn’t get the time to reply, as the hat-wearing child pounced on him, hugging him tight in her little arms. The sudden contact made Snatcher’s body freeze instantly, as sensations submerged him. The impact caused the pain in his legs and hand to intensify and he bit his lower lip not to make any sound. A few seconds passed before he was able to push the brat away, purposely ignoring her pout, as he tried to regain his composure.

-“Yeah, yeah, kiddo, hello to you too, I got that.” He dusted his tunic with brief gestures and looked back at the child, whose eyes were still fixed on him. God, it felt _so good_ to finally act like himself and not like that dumb prince he used to be!

-“Next time you want to call me, just come instead of throwing rocks at me, or something.” he groaned, still feeling the throbbing ache on his head from the previous hit. The kid simply giggled at him, with that awfully annoying laughter of hers.

-“Sorry, I wanted to be discreet. But it worked, didn’t it?” The mischevious expression painted on her face was enough to tell the shade she didn’t regret it in the least.

-“You’re lucky I don’t have my powers anymore, kid, you’re playing with fire here.” He stopped, thinking about what had been on his mind since the moment he arrived at the village square: “By the way, how did you know it was me?” He asked in a wary tone before adding: “You drew me in my spectral form in your meetup message, so how did you recognize me?”

His questions seemed to put the child ill-at-ease immediately, as her smile fell the instant she heard his words. Her posture shifted in clear awkwardness, as she hunched her shoulders, looking at everything but the shade:

-“Hum… Well I was waiting for you and… I saw you from afar looking at my drawing, so I supposed it was you?” Her tone was unsure, clear signal that she was either lying or, at the very least, hiding something from him. And the ghost _really_ didn’t like being lied to, especially after all he had to endure to come here: there were limits to his patience.

-“Oh yeah, so you just _threw a rock_ at someone you didn’t know, _just in case_ it would be me? Because I was looking at something you couldn’t see from where you stood? Even if I could have been looking at any other paper?” He stared at her, unimpressed. He had dealt with many liars through his life as a ghost, with most of his contractors and everything, so he just _knew_ when someone wasn’t telling him the truth.

-“Yes? Well, it _was_ you, so why-”

The ghost cut her short, making her cower even more:

-“You’re lying to me.” He came closer and stoop menacingly upon her, using his lowest voice: “ _I don’t like that_. So let’s try again: how. Did you know. It was me.”

The child remained silent for a few seconds, definitely tensed and uncomfortable. In any other situation, the kid would have laughed at him, not taking his threats seriously. But now, she was trying to avoid his stare as much as possible. She was hiding something, the ghost was sure of it. The girl shifted a little, as if she didn’t know what to do with herself. Eventually, she opened her mouth again, speaking with an anxious tone:

-“Okay, uh… Do you know what Time Rifts are?”

The spirit looked at the kid, as confusion slowly replaced anger on his face:

-“No? You’re the Mrs Know-it-all regarding time travel stuff here, not me.

-Well…” She paused for a moment, looking for words: “So, they are caused by broken Time Pieces. They’re like… Tears in reality, leading to alternate dimensions, where you can interact with things, mostly and…

-Get to the point, kiddo!

-I’m trying to!” She protested, not liking to be interrupted: “The thing is… While most of them are pretty standard, some are… _Different_.” She answered, her eyes avoiding his once again.

-“What do you mean, ‘different’?”

The question made the child cower more, as she muttered her answer hastily:

-“They’re linked to people’s memories.”

The shade stared at her, not knowing what she meant at first. However, his mind quickly connected the dots, between her explanations and the way she was behaving in front of him… _She knew_. His eyes widened at the realization and he felt a weight settling on his shoulders.

-“How long did you know?” The question left his lips as his mind was trying to process what he had just been told. In front of him, the child was rubbing her hands together in nervousness.

-“A while…?” She finally found the courage to look at him after replying. The shade didn’t know what to think. He had never told his past to anyone and the only person knowing about it was Vanessa herself. The thought of anyone other than himself knowing about it made him… Terribly ill at ease. It was as if a dark part of him had been revealed, for everyone to see. This past was something he had tried to hide for so long… And now someone knew and had even known about it for a while.

The ghost really didn’t know what to think.

-“Snatcher?” The girl’s quiet voice brought him back to reality. Her face was full of something akin to sadness and _pity_. The spirit didn’t like that. He clenched his teeth and, for once, was the one to look away this time.

-“I don’t _need_ your pity.” He said with a low voice. Why did someone have to know? And why the _kid_ of all people? Why did it bother him that much? The ghost eventually shook his head. Well, it was too late to do anything about it, now that she knew. His face softened as he looked at her once again:

-“Sorry you got to see that.” Just having flashes of his last moments made him feel terrible. The child probably hadn’t known how to bring the subject, no wonder she felt bad about telling him now. Silence settled between them, as no one dared to speak after that for a few seconds.

Snatcher was the one to break the silence, as he realized something else:

-“Wait, those Time Rifts… I think I saw two of them!” He remembered the one in the forest, just like the one which had appeared in his room. The kid’s message had actually come through it apparently. Did she know about them?

The child seemed to guess his thoughts, as she replied, visibly relieved to change the subject of the conversation:

-“Actually, those were because of me.” She explained, before continuing: “I was trying to find time anomalies and that’s how I learnt you were here too. But it kind of messed up some things in the process… That’s why they appeared. They didn’t lead anywhere though, they were only minor. I also used the last one to send you my message since, like I said, I managed to find your location thanks to the information I got from the time anomalies.

-’Time anomalies’?” He repeated.

-“Well…” She paused, as if she was trying to find simple words to explain something very complex. Which was most likely the case: “I was trying to understand what was happening. It’s very… _Unique_. It’s something I have never seen before and I only know this kind of situation through some theories I heard about.

-So… Are you telling me you can’t reverse it?” Dread settled over the ghost, as his biggest fear was starting to come true. This couldn’t be happening, this simply _couldn’t_ be happening… His body was tensing up and his breathing was getting faster, just like his heartbeat. He couldn’t help but pray for the kid to tell him she was able to reverse everything, as if nothing had ever happened. Though, when he saw the hat-wearing child wince, his heart sank in his chest.

She couldn’t reverse it. Her stance was enough of an answer to the ghost.

-“It’s not that I _can’t_ …” She started, hesitant, before being interrupted by Snatcher’s angry tone:

-“Then what? What’s the problem?” He lifted his arms, frustrated: “I’ve been stuck in this place, meeting people who are supposed to be _dead_ , and _you_ ’re telling me you can’t bring us back?”

The kid put her hands on her face and took a deep breath, now frustrated as well:

-“Stop interrupting me!” She groaned in her palms in exasperation: “I _can_ take us back! But it’s complicated!

-And _what_ exactly is _complicated_ , here? Can’t you just take us into your spaceship and reverse it by whatever means you’ve got there? I thought you were an _expert_ on time travel stuff!

-I am, ugh!” she retorted, still grunting for a few seconds: “But it’s not a time travel problem! _That’s why_ it’s complicated!”

The shade looked at her, bewildered. “ _Not a time travel problem_ ”? What did the kid mean by that? How could this _not_ be a time travel problem? His confusion must have shown in his features, as the child slowly lowered her hands to meet his stare. She sighed and continued her explication, conscious of the ghost’s wish to understand what she meant:

-“At first, I thought someone had broken a Time Piece. But the thing is… No one actually _broke_ one.”

No one had broken a Time Piece? What was she saying?

-“Then why are we here? Didn’t we travel back in time or something?

-We didn’t. That’s the problem. We’re not in the past: we’re only in an _imitation_ of the past.

-An… Imitation?”

The spirit couldn’t be more confused at the kid’s explanation. And, deep inside him, a new fear was starting to appear: the fear of being in a situation much stranger and harder to solve than what he first anticipated.

The kid nodded:

-“We’re in a Time Rift. And it’s not an ordinary one, it’s _artificial_. _Someone_ made it from scratch using one of my Time Pieces.”

Snatcher’s body froze, as his mind was slowly starting to understand what the kid was trying to say.

-“You mean… Someone has recreated _this_?” He gestured to their surroundings in bewilderment.

-“Yeah. They didn’t break a Time Piece to get back in time, they used it to create a replica of the past, for some reason I don’t understand. I’m not even sure how it’s possible in the first place…” She crossed her arms, clearly dissatisfied by her own ignorance.

Snatcher’s confusion had reached his height. _What_? Why would anyone create an artificial past when they had the opportunity to actually go back in time? It didn’t make any sense! But what bothered him the most was that he knew who the person responsible was: Vanessa. It could only be her! She remembered things just like he did! There was no way she was innocent in this. But then again… Why would she create an alternate dimension when she could have gone back in time to erase everything bad from their past? Not only was it extremely illogical but it was strange, considering all the possible powers held by _one_ single Time Piece.

None of this made sense to the spirit.

The child must have sensed his distress, as she extended her small hand to him:

-“I’ll be able to explain more back on my ship. I’ll show you what I’ve discovered until now.”

The ghost looked at the little hand that was offered to him. The situation had really changed for the worst, hadn’t it? He sighed and slowly gave his hand to her. When his left one touched hers, the child’s eyes drifted to his other hand, still painful from the frostbite:

-“Wait, what happened to your hand?” She asked, frowning. She let go of his left hand to grab his right one, not thinking about the pain it would cause to the shade.

-“Ouch, ouch, _ouch_ , hands off, kiddo!” He tried to take it back, but the brat kept a tight grip on his skin, forcing him to give up his resistance. She examined it, inspecting it very carefully. Suddenly, a horrified look appeared on her face as she seemed to understand what, or more precisely _who_ , was the cause of that injury.

-“It’s _her_ , isn’t it?” She asked, with a knowing expression painted on her features. The shade only stared at his wound with a conflicted look, both sad and dismissive at the same time.

-“Yeah. She knows what’s happening too.”

The kid winced again. The situation was probably worse than what she had thought as well. She eventually let go of his hand and extended her arm instead for him to take.

-“Let’s go on my ship. I know how to cure this.

-You do?” He retorted, quite wary. He had seen what her spaceship looked like and it certainly didn’t belong to someone who knew how to take care of themselves. The brat guessed his thoughts and replied with an offended voice:

-“Hey, _you_ were the one who forced me to go to Subcon Manor! I had to cure my own frostbites. Though, they looked better than yours does.”

He scoffed: _oh yeah_ , he had forgotten about this contract. Well, at least it was a good thing for him now, as she knew how to cure that. Or he hoped she really did, as the pain was starting to become more than just _unpleasant_ , at this point.

He finally extended his own arm, standing next to her, arm in arm.

-“Okay. Now what?”

She simply smiled at him and clicked her fingers. A beam of light appeared instantly and surrounded them very briefly. Snatcher then felt his body being transported in a way he absolutely _hated_ , as if it was moving fast, _too fast_.

He was _so_ going to kill this kid. But not before she got them back in their own time period.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed that new chapter! Don't hesitate to tell me, any comment is a huge help to me!  
> I can't wait to show you more of the story, as it's really getting somewhere from now on... Hehehehe!
> 
> See you in the next chapter! Please take care in the meantime :D  
> You'll be able to find me on my blog if you need anything: https://erekiosuncreativeideas.tumblr.com/


	9. “Oh, thank God.”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Snatcher learns more about his current situation, featuring an insolent brat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Here's the ninth chapter!  
> First of all, a huge "thank you" to Krekka01, who corrected it!
> 
> I hope you'll like it, and I can't wait to publish the next chapter already! (I still have to write it first, ahaha)  
> If you want to see how the writing is going, you can check my Tumblr: https://erekiosuncreativeideas.tumblr.com/
> 
> Happy reading!

Snatcher had always found teleportation to be one of the easiest ways of moving around his forest. It had been one of his many powers as a ghost, though he had had to eat a few dozen souls before he could use it; however, teleporting as a human, using the kid’s alien technology, was very much different. First, it wasn’t as “fast” as his own method, since he had the time to feel his body moving very quickly in an empty space, yet without the usual draft caused by the movement. Second… it was an _extremely awful_ sensation, contrary to his own teleportation technique.

As soon as the transportation ended, his body violently hit the floor, leaving him lying down on something soft, eyes shut. His mind was hazy from the sudden shock while a wave of pain engulfed him. _Why_ did he have to suffer so much? Hadn’t he had enough already? With his injured hand and legs, it was-

The spirit stopped thinking immediately as a _horrible_ thought came to his mind: he couldn’t feel his legs anymore!

-“Snatcher!” The child’s voice broke the silence and helped him to clear his fuzzy consciousness. Alarmed by his lack of sensations in his lower half, the shade slowly opened his eyes. A groan left his lips; he felt like someone was hammering his brain, again and again and again. His vision was blurry and the room was dark, yet he could still perceive the brat’s silhouette next to him.

-“Snatcher, are you okay?” she asked again, in a much more anxious tone. Her _loud_ voice intensified his headache and he raised his right hand to silence her.

-“Yeah, yeah, shut up, I’m still alive...” He managed to keep an “ _unfortunately_ ” to himself, even if it would have been pretty _funny_ to say, considering his own situation. However, his entire body froze as he caught sight of his hand. It was purple… Just like his old one, the one he used to have when he was dead.

Ignoring the sharp pain, he straightened up and took a better look at himself: he was no longer in his old human body! He lowered his head; no wonder he couldn’t feel his legs anymore! He didn’t have _any_ at the moment! Just the old purple tail, _like usual_.

The spirit couldn’t help but laugh at the thought: as if things had been _usual_ lately! But, _finally_ , he was back in his old spectral form.

-“Oh, _thank God,_ ” he said, both groaning and sighing at the same time, more than relieved.

He tried to float again, moving his tail at the same time but stopped immediately when he felt something unpleasant. It… hurt.

“ _What the…?_ ” he thought, confused. He tried to move his tail again, only to wince when the pain increased from the movement. Ghosts weren’t supposed to feel pain! Yet, here he was, clenching his spectral teeth. What was happening? Next to him, the kid was watching him silently, probably oblivious to what was going on in his mind. But then, his vision cleared up.

They were in the child’s spaceship, in the main room more precisely. The room was dark, only illuminated by a single screen. Now that he had regained his spectral body, he could see things perfectly, even in a poorly lit room. The ghost examined his surroundings: the floor was covered in shards, all coming from broken screens. When he first came into her spaceship (back when he made her sign the death wish contracts), he had always seen them on, showing things in a language he couldn’t understand. Now, they were all broken, except for one of them, which was the only thing preventing the room from being pitch-black. But the screens weren’t the only damaged things. Most of the glass balls on the mezzanine were shattered as well, and the green ladder had fallen to the floor. The doors were off, not displaying the usual lit drawings. The instrument panel was damaged, too, and one of its pipes had detached from it, hanging on the side from where it was supposed to fit. All the indicator lights were off, just like the panel in itself, more generally. A burnt smell emanated from it, a clear indicator of it malfunctioning.

And regarding what was outside of the spaceship… it was only a pure black void, nothing like the space he had been able to see through the window pane before. There were no more stars, no more visible planets… Just nothing. Snatcher couldn’t help but feel intimidated by it.

-“Hey, kid,” he started, still looking around them, “you threw a party here or what?”

The child snorted, while her face softened, leaving most of her worry behind:

-“Pff, no,” she replied with a small laugh, before continuing with a more serious tone. “Well, it’s because of the Time Rift. This one is much more powerful than the usual ones, and it’s a little too powerful for my ship.”

The ghost turned to the girl, staring at her with a perplexed look:

-“What do you mean ‘ _it’s too powerful_ ’?”

-“Well…” Her eyes fell to the ground as a wince appeared on her face. It was enough to tell Snatcher that whatever she was going to say wouldn’t be good for both of them.

-“Remember when I told you someone had used a Time Piece to create this pocket dimension? Well, it’s not supposed to happen. There have been theories about that, back on my home planet, but no one had ever actually managed to create anything like this. My ship isn’t made for that kind of situation.” She pointed to the broken control panel and continued. “I was in space when it happened. I was able to enter the Void before the Rift closed itself, but not without breaking things in the process.”

It was a little too complicated for the spirit to understand. While he could learn and recite entire law books, this was a bit too abstract for him. He had been stuck for years in his forest, far from any technologies other than what he had seen from his victims. It was no wonder he had trouble understanding what she was saying, even though he could grasp the main ideas most of the time.

-“So…” he replied, gesturing to the window, “The Void? That’s where we are?”

-“Yeah. It’s a little hard to explain, but…” She was about to continue but interrupted herself as she seemed to realize something. “Wait, what about your hand?”

The ghost simply laughed at her:

-“Kiddo, I’m a ghost again. Spirits can’t be hurt,” he said, omitting an “ _only in very specific situations_ ”.

-“Are you sure?” The ghost didn’t get the time to answer as she came closer and took his left hand in hers to examine it. In any other situation, Snatcher would have smacked her hands away, telling her that she must be dense to insist that much; however, as soon as the child touched his hand, a pained cry escaped his ghostly lips:

-“Ouch! Ouch, ouch!” The brat lifted her head to look at him, surprised by his reaction. But the shade was even more shocked than she was.

Ghosts weren’t supposed to feel pain. And that’s when Snatcher realized that he had been able to _feel_ the softness of the floor, to _smell_ the burnt scent of the damaged control panel. He shouldn’t have been able to. Dead people lost their senses of smell and touch. So, if he was back in his old body, why did he still feel them? Why did he feel pain in his _non-existent_ legs and in his _spectral_ hand? _This didn’t make any sense_!

-“I thought ghosts didn’t feel pain?” retorted the little girl with a cheeky smile.

-“Oh shut up, will you!” He took his hand back, inspecting it. Just like his human hand, there were red stripes, and his purple skin was bluer than usual. The shade had never seen anything like that, in both his life and afterlife. This wasn’t good. Spirits weren’t supposed to be affected by such injuries. Was his spectral body still linked to his human one? He couldn’t see any other explanation, yet it didn’t make much sense either. Why would his bodies be linked to each other? The ghost had no idea what to think at this point. Time travel had never been something he was good at and it was much worse when it came to space-related subjects.

-“For starters, why am I back in my old body? Aren’t we still in the Time Rift?” he asked, frowning in confusion.

-“It’s…” She grimaced, trying to look for words. “Let’s take care of your hand first, I’ll explain after that.”

Snatcher scoffed at her :

-“Take care of my hand? Kid, I’m _dead._ _What_ exactly do you want to cure?” His tone must have been a little too sarcastic to the hat-wearing brat, as she pressed his hand back into hers, causing the shade to freeze instantly, clenching his teeth not to let any sound come out. He glared at her, though it did little to intimidate her, as she just smiled innocently.

-“You brat…” he grumbled, before giving up, too tired of everything to fight back. “Okay, fine, let’s take care of a hand that _shouldn’t_ need it!”

The kid smiled at him even more and let go of his left hand.

-“Great! Come with me to the kitchen!”

The ghost lowered his eyes to the broken ladder beside them. How was she going to get up there if there was nothing to-

He didn’t get the time to finish that thought as the kid gathered speed and rushed forward. She jumped on the wall and caught the ledge of the mezzanine as if it was nothing. _Right_ , she could do that. How could he have forgotten about her weird abilities? She sure was a strange kid, though he supposed he prefered that rather than a crying and useless one.

The little girl turned back to him, gesturing him to follow her:

-“What are you waiting for?”

The ghost simply rolled his eyes and let his body leave the ground, floating higher and higher. The pain intensified in the meantime, but he did his best to ignore it, let alone show it at all. He had had enough of people pitying him like the dumb prince he used to be. It didn’t take him very long to join the kid on top of the mezzanine. She then opened the kitchen door and shifted on the side to let him enter. The room was dark and it was even messier than the last time he had been there. Usually, plates lied around, barely cleaned up. The sink was always full of dishes and the fridge wasn’t even properly closed! But now… plates were shattered on the floor, the contents of all the kitchen cupboards were splattered everywhere, the paintings had all fallen to the floor, and the fridge was completely open. All the lights in the room were off, and the shade could see the broken glass of lamps on the floor. His own face was the only source of light in this pitch-black room.

-“I know you have a problem with cleaning, kiddo,”Snatcher remarked, “but it really seems like a hurricane hit your spaceship.”

-“You’re not very far from the truth, honestly,” Hat Kid replied, smiling sheepishly. “When my ship entered the Void, it was pretty… intense. It shook everything up.”

-“Again with that ‘Void’ thingy?”

-“I’ll explain, I promise! Just…” She took his injured hand again, though much more gently than before. “Come here.”

The hat-wearing brat led him to a wooden crate, one that was in the same place the last time he could remember. She let go of his hand once again, and ran to the sink, trying to open the tap. However, she facepalmed when no water came out of it.

-“Ugh, of course, no power, no water!” Her frustration made Snatcher smile; seeing that was the best thing happening in his day so far. Though, said frustration didn’t linger long on her face, as she seemed to have an illumination. She clapped her hands together and started to look for something in the cupboards, throwing behind her whatever didn’t correspond to what she was searching for. The ghost almost got hit, but quickly avoided the object that was thrown at him. He was about to complain about that but he was cut short as the kid brandished something proudly.

-“Ah-ha!”

It was a bottle of water. The ghost’s confusion increased even more.

-“Uh… You know I don’t need to drink or eat in that form, right?” he questionned, wondering if the child had gone even stupider in the last few minutes passed in his company. She ignored him and picked up something that was lying in one of the corners of the room: a saucepan. The proud look on her face intensified and she smiled even more as she fiercely put the pan on the crate. The shade was just staring at her, trying to understand what she was trying to do, in vain.

It was only when the girl filled the saucepan with water that she facepalmed herself once again, this time with both hands, groaning lengthily.

-“What now?” Snatcher couldn’t help but feel more and more annoyed with the present situation. He crossed his arms, careful not to touch the injured part of his left hand.

The girl lowered her hands, looking at him with eyes suddenly full of inspiration.

-“Wait, do you still have your powers by any chance?” she asked.

-“Uh…” That _was_ a very good question, one which he didn’t know the answer yet. “What for?”

The little girl pointed to the saucepan filled with water.

-“If we want to cure your frostbite, or at least make it less painful for you, we have to put your hand in warm water. But since my spaceship has not much power left, I can’t heat up the water. So… I was wondering if you could do that with your powers?”

That… did make sense. Or, at least it did in that extreme nonsense that was their whole situation. He shrugged; he could still try. Though, he couldn’t help but feel a bit anxious; he could feel and smell things, even though he shouldn’t be. What if he still didn’t have his powers? He could float around like before, yes, but that didn’t mean anything. At this point, it was hard to be surprised.

-“I guess?” he answered, unsure.

The kid took the saucepan and held it up for him to place his uninjured hand underneath. The shade closed his eyes and tried to produce a little flame. It was one of the easiest things he could do usually, so if he couldn’t do that now… that meant he would truly be defenseless. He tried to focus as much as possible, searching for any source of power still left inside of him. Just when he was about to think there was none left, he felt something. There were still some traces inside. He felt his hand heating up and he reopened his eyes. The room was now illuminated by a purple flame, right between his hand and the saucepan. The kid was staring at it with admiration, before lifting her eyes to meet his.

-“You still have them!” the girl cried out. “That’s amazing!”

The spirit scoffed, looking elsewhere. He wasn’t used to be flattered, and he could feel a mix of unease and pride developing inside of him.

-“Pff, you find _that_ amazing? Wait until we fight again, _then_ you’ll be impressed.”

The little girl giggled,and soon, silence fell between them. A few minutes passed, during which the kid dipped the tip of her fingers in the water to check the temperature. After a while, she nodded and put the saucepan back on the crate, careful not to spill anything.

-“It shouldn’t be too warm. Put your hand inside, I’ll get paper and pencils in the meantime.”

Paper and pencils? What for? As if it was the time for colouring! The hat-wearing kid seemed to see his confusion, however, and added:

-“It’ll make things easier to understand. I mean, I could explain what’s happening in details if you want, but it’s going to be pretty complicated.”

The ghost rolled his eyes, more than exasperated. Well, she _was_ right; all that time travel stuff was too abstract for him to understand, so he supposed that her idea wasn’t as stupid as he first thought.

-“Yeah, okay. Go fetch for your colouring book or whatever.”

The girl then left the room, not before promising to be back as soon as she found them. The shade wondered if she would be able to find them, considering there was no light in the ship, except for that screen in the main room. He supposed there had to be some power left to charge it, but then again, it was something he wasn’t familiar with.

Now left alone with his thoughts, he let his mind wander as his eyes examined the room once again. Even when it was less… messy, he couldn’t help but wonder how the child had managed to survive until now. Every time he had come to her spaceship, he had always thought that if he wasn’t the one to kill her, she would die on her own by her negligence; however, the kid was still very much alive at the moment. Snatcher guessed that she probably had more than one trick up her sleeve. He really hoped that it would be the same for the situation they were in, because they surely needed it. At least, the ghost was back in his spectral form, which made him feel much, _much_ better. In his human body, everything was so _foreign_ , so weird. Now, even if he still felt sensations, he felt much more comfortable. Another good thing was that he still didn’t feel his “afterlife coldness”. After his death, he had always felt cold. When people died, they kept feeling things related to the way they perished, and Snatcher was no exception. Though, at the moment, he felt nothing like that in particular, which was _quite_ a relief. It only reminded him of _that moment_ , spent _alone_ for days, months, _years_ , he didn’t know.

He shook his head. There was no use in thinking about it now. He tried to focus on the warmness around his left hand. At least that was pleasant. He closed his eyes, letting his consciousness rest for a while. It was the first time in days that he could truly rest, and he would be lying if he said that it didn’t feel _good_. He _really_ needed this.

It continued for a few minutes and then he heard quick footsteps coming in his direction. Snatcher reopened his tired eyes. Well, on the bright side, he _did_ get at least one chance to rest, which was still _something_.

The door opened abruptly, as the child ran into the room, joining Snatcher as fast as she came in. She was holding something in her arms and put it down violently next to the saucepan, making the crate shake by the sudden shock.

-“ _Now_ we can talk!” she said, out of breath, probably because she rushed to come back. She spread out what she had just brought: coloured pencils and white sheets of paper. She then picked something up from the floor, handing it to Snatcher: candles. He lit them up and the kid placed them next to the sheets

Snatcher let out a sarcastic laugh once everything was set up.

-“Well, _finally_. So, this ‘Void’ thing you keep talking about, what is it?” he asked, leaning against the crate, as the brat took a light blue pencil in her hand. She put the nib down and started to draw, forming a circle on the surface.

-“This is where we are,” she said, writing something in the centre of the circle, in a language Snatcher was unable to read.

-“You know I can’t read what you just wrote, right?” It took several seconds before the kid frowned, realizing her own mistake. She then handed him her pencil.

-“I can’t write in your language. I can only speak it. Write the translation underneath, it says ‘Time Rift’.”

Snatcher stared at the pencil for a while, frowning as well before a scoff left his lips.

-“Kid, I’m left-handed,” he retorted in a mocking laugh, nodding to his hand underwater as he spoke. The kid closed her eyes and took a deep breath, now frustrated again. The ghost grinned at her, enjoying her distress. However, his fun ended when the kid handed the pencil back to him, insisting:

-“Well, try and become right-handed for a few minutes, because I really can’t write as you do.”

Both glared at each other, as a dominance fight started again between them. Unfortunately, Snatcher was still too tired to resist, and eventually took the pencil in his right hand. The object felt foreign in his hand as he tried to find a good posture.

-“One day, I _will_ kill you,” he promised, mumbling in a low tone.

-“I know, I know, you’re my BFF too,” she simply answered, completely unaffected by his threatening promise.

The shade put his wrist down on the crate and tried to write what she had just told him, right under what she wrote earlier. The nib shook a bit too much as he did so, since the action as more than weird to him. He still managed to form the words and handed the pencil back to his contractor, not without showing his discontentment, which was fully ignored.

They repeated this process for a few minutes. The kid added a purple circle, which she labelled “Master Timeline”, and wrote “Void” between the two circles. She then linked the two circles by two arrows, one yellow and one red, and added a crude drawing of a Time Piece next to them.

-“There!” said the little girl triumphantly.

The spirit only looked at the drawing with a frown on his face. He didn’t understand a single thing in this diagram.

-“So… do you mind telling me what I’m looking at, exactly?” the shade requested, irate.

-“Do you mind being patient for once?” she retorted, more and more annoyed with him.

She sighed and placed the tip on her pink pencil in the “Master Timeline” circle and started to explain, in a much more serious tone:

-“This is where we were when it happened. It’s the world as we know it, or at least the main reality we were in.”

-“Wait, there are _other_ realities?” asked the ghost in bewilderment.

-“It’s a whole new subject, but yeah. It’s not important for our situation, though. What matters is that someone used a Time Piece to create a new dimension,” she continued, passing the pencil over the yellow arrow several times. “This dimension took the form of a Time Rift, the one you were teleported in. And the reason you’re back as a ghost now is because we’re not inside of it anymore. Following everything so far?”

The shade nodded, doing his best to understand what she was saying. He had to admit that the drawing did help him to grasp the explanations.

The hat-wearing girl spoke again, this time pointing the “Void” with the nib of the pencil:

-“Now, you have to imagine that those two dimensions, ours and this one, are parallel to each other. And you have this ‘gap’ between them, as if they were two different things, far, _very far_ from each other. Okay?”

-“And that space in the middle is the ‘Void’”?

-“Yep. It’s like very big and very small at the same time. The laws of physics don’t apply there, so you could make several steps and have moved forward by a mile, just like you could walk for hours for nothing. It’s very different than what we’re used to in our own dimension. But it’s only theories, as the Void would kill anyone spending more than one second inside without protection.”

Snatcher squinted. This was a bit too abstract for him, though he supposed that it wasn’t too important at the moment.

-“The Void is the empty space between all Time Rifts and all realities. Usually, my ship uses… _warps_ in the Void to enter Time Rifts, because it’s way less risky that way. As I said, the laws of physics don’t apply there, and my ship isn’t made to resist those distortions very long, especially when they’re too different from our laws. So it’s better to find _passages_ that are similar to our own reality, so my ship can handle the trip safely. But…” she gestured to the room with a sad look on her face. “As it was an emergency, I had to enter the Void as fast as possible. As you can see, it wasn’t without consequences.”

-“Wouldn’t it have been better to wait for those ‘warps’ you told me about? I mean, if just entering this void-y place caused so many problems for your spaceship…”

-“Well…” Her eyes fell to the floor as she continued. “That would have been the smartest choice, yes. But time isn’t consistent between all dimensions. One second can correspond to a year in another reality, and… we kind of have a countdown problem, too.”

The spirit felt his fear coming back to life, as he saw the child avoiding his eyes, with a worried expression painted on her features.

-“What do you mean by ‘countdown’?” he asked, already afraid of the answer.

The brat remained silent for a few seconds as if she was trying to gather the courage to speak again. Eventually, she pointed out the “Time Rift” circle once again.

-“There are two kinds of Time Rifts. Most of them are stable and don’t cause too many problems. Others, not so much. This one is part of the unstable ones. And…”

-“And?”

She was definitely uncomfortable, and Snatcher’s insistent question surely didn’t help. But, when she found the courage to talk again, Snatcher felt his non-existent heart stop beating and sink into his chest:

-“All unstable Time Rifts are bound to implode after a few days, at least in best-case scenarios. This one is no exception. We have four to five days until the Time Rift collapses, taking everything inside it in the process. The thing is… I can’t fix my ship fast enough. There’s too much damage, and even if we’re not killed by the Rift collapsing, the oxygen reserves of the ship won’t hold very long after that. Though I guess it’s more my problem than yours, since that… you’re _already_ dead, you know.”

Snatcher’s body froze as he tried to process everything, one fact after the other. A feeling of dread settled over him as he slowly realized what the kid was saying.

-“You mean… That we’re stuck here no matter what?” he asked quietly, not wanting to believe that everything was vain from the start. It couldn’t be!

And all that because his ex wanted to live in the past again?! She had just doomed all of them!

He was interrupted in his train of thoughts as the kid replied to his question:

-“There _is_ another way out of here.”

Those words were enough to catch the ghost’s interest right away, as he straightened up immediately:

-“What is it?”

If he had thought the kid was uncomfortable before, now it was very much different. She didn’t seem to know what to do with herself, as she hunched her shoulders, looking everywhere but where Snatcher was. She knew something and it was _bad_. Even the stupidest person in the world could see that. But what could be _worse_ than either dying with a _whole dimension_ or remain alone in a spaceship with a little girl’s corpse for eternity? Though, the latter would be very appealing in any other situation.

-“What. Is. It?” he pressed, looming over a small body in a way he hoped threatening, even though he knew better.

She took a deep breath and replied quietly:

-“We have to find the Time Piece used to create this dimension. It’s the only way to reverse everything. That’s why I was searching for time anomalies in the first place; since it’s not supposed to be here, anomalies tend to appear near it.”

The ghost felt like this solution was nothing compared to what she had just told him before. That was all they had to do? Piece of cake! However, the look on her face told him there was much to this story than just finding the Time Piece. And, after thinking about it a little, he quickly understood why she was making such a face.

-“Oh God. It’s in _there_ , isn’t it?” he asked with a groan.

The child nodded silently, understanding instantly that he was talking about Subcon Manor.

-“I knew it!” He hit the crate with his fist, pure rage engulfing him entirely: “It’s her, I knew it could only be her!”

He clenched his spectral teeth, wanting nothing more than to _kill_ something at the moment. He felt the water heating up around his hand, only to realize he was the one warming it up in the first place. Reluctantly, the spirit tried to calm himself; he didn’t want to burn his own hand since it would probably be affected by it in his physical state. His own magic wouldn’t burn him, but boiling water would.

The hat-wearing brat shook her head.

-“I don’t think Vanessa is the one who used the Time Piece,” she affirmed, yet in an unsure tone, probably more because she feared Snatcher’s reaction to her claims.

Said reaction came almost instantly:

-“Are you kidding me?! _Of course_ she did! She’s the _only_ person who could want to use it!”

-“No, what I mean is… I don’t think she even has the _knowledge_ to use it to create a whole dimension. _No one_ on my planet did, and yet we do know how Time Pieces work.”

The shade stopped moving. A feeling of anxiousness settled over him, as he started to understand what his contractor was implying. He stared at her, both bewildered and confused, as he rephrased her assumptions:

-“So you think… _someone else_ is behind all of this?” he questionned, gesturing to everything around them. The little girl shook her head once again, and continued, in the most serious tone the ghost had heard coming from her:

-“I do think she is involved… but I also think she’s not the mastermind in what’s happening.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hehehe, sorry, I ended the chapter on a cliffhanger again! I hope you're still interested in this story! I can't wait to see your theories about the next chapters.
> 
> Until then, see you and take care! :)


	10. “Yeah. Take me back.”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Snatcher and Hat Kid experience BFF stuff together, and everything is completely fine!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter! I hope you'll like it!  
> A new big "thank you" to Krekka01, who corrected it.
> 
> You know, I should stop splitting chapters into several parts, but I always end up writing too much.  
> Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy reading it! Please don't hesitate to tell me if you do!
> 
> You can find me on this Tumblr: https://erekiosuncreativeideas.tumblr.com/

-“So… if Vanessa’s not the mastermind, who is?” asked Snatcher after a moment of silence. His stare was fixed on the little Hat Kid, as his mind prayed for her to know who was responsible. But the girl only shook her head, visibly embarrassed.

-“I… I don’t know,” she answered with a quiet voice. The ghost’s hopes were shattered in thousands of pieces with the brat’s awful recognition. Before he was able to retort anything, his contractor lifted her hands in defence, trying to justify herself. “... _yet_! I don’t know _yet_! We still have several days to find out who is behind this!”

-“Yeah, which is _a lot_ of time, isn’t it?” he replied sarcastically. “Oh well, why don’t we spend the rest of the day drinking tea? After all, we have all the time in the world! Oh, wait… _we don’t!_ ”

-“Would you please _shut up_!” yelled the child, exasperated by his behaviour. “Yes, I know we don’t have much time! But I arrived here just like you, only several hours ago! As if I-”

-“Wait...” the spirit interrupted her, just as his mind became blank. “What do you mean, ‘ _you just arrived here_ ’?”

Surely, he must have misunderstood what she had said because there couldn’t be any possible logical explanation behind this. Snatcher had been in this dimension for a whole day already! A night had passed since his arrival, so why was she talking about mere hours? This didn’t make any sense!

The hat-wearing girl seemed to think the same thing as him, because a clear expression of confusion crossed her features. Her eyes were fixed on his, as her mind was probably trying to understand as well.

-“Uh… I mean that I’ve been here for three to four hours, at most?” She raised her eyebrows, puzzled for a few seconds. However, the perplexity on her face didn’t last long, as it was quickly replaced by a much more horrified expression. She let out a small “ _oh_ ” as her breathing sped up little by little.

-“What ‘ _oh_ ’? What now?” questioned the shade, infuriated. Something was going on, and he hated not understanding what exactly. Plus, there were too many things happening at the moment, and if another one was added to the pile… it was already too much as it was.

-“We have to go back _now,_ ” simply murmured the brat, now completely frozen. She was looking everywhere but at Snatcher, panicked by something he couldn’t tell yet.

-“What? Hey, kid!” He took her by the shoulders, forcing her to come back to reality. “Why do we have to go back? What’s happening?”

The sudden contact woke up the child from her panic attack, and she slowly rose her head to meet his nervous stare. The look on her face did nothing to reassure Snatcher a bit. He could feel his body tensing up from the apprehension. Finally, after what felt like hours to him, the brat opened her mouth:

-“Time isn’t synchronized. It’s moving much slower on the ship than it does down there.”

The shade remained motionless for a few instants, his brain trying to get what the little girl was telling him. The time was moving differently? But then, it hit him: that was exactly what she had explained to him earlier when she was talking about the Void.

“ _The laws of physics don’t apply there, so you could make several steps and have moved forward by a mile, just like you could walk for hours for nothing._ ”

-“You mean… that several days might have passed since we came into the ship?” questioned the spirit, now very concerned by the current situation.

-“I wouldn’t say _days_ , but…”

The shade cut her short and hit the nearby crate with his fist. It shook everything on it, and water splashed from the inside of the saucepan, while the kid’s colour pencils jumped from the shock. Snatcher didn’t care. What was it, compared to the fact that they might have lost several hours in the stupidest way possible? His anger was now palpable.

-“You’re telling me that, even though we have a _countdown_ problem, we just lost time by coming into this spaceship of yours? Is _that_ what this is about?!”

The hat-wearing brat avoided his stare and hunched, more than ashamed.

-“I didn’t know, okay?” she shot back. “I thought it wouldn’t be a problem!”

-“You _thought_? _You’re_ supposed to be the time expert here, kiddo!” countered Snatcher, louder. The hair on his spectral body was becoming sharper and spikier as seconds passed. His figure was now looming menacingly over the small child’s one, as his fingers slowly turned into deadly claws. His left hand scratched the inside of the saucepan without meaning to, and his teeth were becoming more and more dangerous. “If you don’t find a solution _right now_ , the lack of oxygen won’t kill you - _I_ will!”

-“I have no idea what’s going on!” screamed the little girl suddenly, with a voice Snatcher had never heard before. “Happy, now?! I’m just as lost as you! I’ve been stuck in this ship for hours, not knowing if I would either die of thirst or asphyxia... _alone_!”

She was on the verge of tears, trembling as she kept her arms along her body, fists clenched in pure rage. She was glaring at the ghost with a fury that looked so strange on her. The spirit was taken aback so much that he couldn’t help but waver at the weird and unusual sight. His spiky hair turned soft again, little by little, as he floated back, still staring at her in bewilderment.

-“Do you know what it’s like?!” she continued, tears trickling down her cheeks. “To feel so stupid and incompetent on something you’re _supposed_ to know like the back of your hand? To know that if you fail, you might have _someone’s death_ on your conscience?!”

The last sentence hit Snatcher close to home, as he was immediately reminded of all the villagers’ blood on his hands. Did he know what it felt like? He certainly did, unfortunately. He had learnt how to live with it as years went by, but after seeing the village alive again… it had been quite a shock to him. And his contractor, _a child_ , experienced it as well. A sudden and strong feeling of guilt engulfed him completely, as he remained motionless, unable to ignore it.

_Why_ did he have to feel emotions?!

Silence fell in the room again, both of them avoiding each other’s eyes. The brat wiped her tears with her sleeves and sniffed noisily, frowning and looking away. She didn’t seem sad - just extremely frustrated and exhausted. What just happened had surely been the final straw. Snatcher didn’t know why, but he disliked the sight that was in front of him. He had seen her cry and die plenty of times during his advanced contracts! So why was this time so _different_? He couldn’t tell. However, there was this annoying feeling looming over him, ordering him to apologize to the little girl, no matter how ridiculous it sounded to him. He wanted her _dead_ , so why did he care?

_Wait_. He didn’t _care_ , what was he even thinking? Clearly, the danger of their current situation was giving him incoherent thoughts. There were absolutely no other explanations to that awful feeling in his non-existent stomach.

Thinking about their current position reminded him that they needed to stop wasting time.

-“So…” he started again, deciding not to apologize ( _what for, after all?_ ) before addressing their main problem, though in an uncertain tone, “once we go back, what do we need to do?”

He wished to avoid going back to the manor very much. After the way he had left, after hearing Vanessa crying her eyes out, and after learning that several hours may have passed since his outburst, the ghost wasn’t even sure there was still a village to go back to; however, according to his contractor, the Time Piece was hidden in the mansion, much to his dismay.

The child sniffed once again, lifting her head to look at him with a tired expression painted on her face.

-“We need to find the Time Piece and break it to get out of here. If this dimension really is linked to it, then breaking it should reverse the process.”

-“ _Should_?” remarked the shade, doing his best not to sound too sarcastic. _For reasons_.

The brat pinched her nose, clearly unhappy with the evolution of the conversation.

-“I told you, this is _new_ to me. No one has ever _created_ something from a Time Piece! I mean, not on purpose. Time Rifts appear because of time distortions, that is to say when a Time Piece is broken. But this one… someone _made_ it - created it _from scratch._ ” She paused, staring into space as she started thinking again. “I have no idea how that’s even possible.”

Snatcher had no idea either, though it was not surprising, given his lack of knowledge in that field of study. However, if the time specialist before him didn’t know what to think, then their situation didn’t look too good.

-“So, the Time Piece,” he said, wanting to get back on the subject without losing more time, “where is it? I know you said it’s in” -he paused, looking elsewhere for a brief moment- “the manor, but in what room exactly?”

As he said those last words, his mind kept repeating old memories from his past, ones he wished he could erase completely, but he knew better.

“ _Please, not the cellar. Not the cellar, don’t tell me it’s in there. Anywhere but there._ ” Similar pleas echoed in his head on loop, as he did his best to remain calm, not wanting to show his discomfort to his contractor. Even though she knew his past, from what she had told him earlier, that didn’t mean he wanted to show any weakness to her. Fortunately, she didn’t seem to notice anything different. She simply hunched again, replying in a tone much too uncertain to Snatcher’s taste.

-“Yeah, about that…”

The spirit knew there was going to be a catch. It was in _there_ , he _knew_ it! Where else could it have been, when Life was so determined to make him suffer more and more? It was simply pure irony.

The child noticed his distress and rose both of her hands, trying to get his attention back on her:

-“Wait, wait, wait! Don’t get mad, I swear it’s not my fault!”

The ghost lifted his eyebrows in confusion.

-“What do you mean, ‘ _not your fault_ ’?” he questioned with a voice full of wary.

-“Well, see, usually I know where my Time Pieces are. I can _sense_ them, it’s in my nature.” The ghost tried to interject to ask about that point, but the little girl stopped him with a hand gesture. “It’s complicated, we don’t have time for that! What matters is that I usually _know_ where they are and. When I don’t, I find out pretty quickly. But this time…”

She paused, looking for words. It felt like an eternity for Snatcher, who was silently _begging_ for his biggest fear not to be true. When she finally opened her mouth again, the ghost couldn’t help but hold his breath, even though he had no need for air in his state in the first place.

-“This time, I don’t know precisely where it is. I can sense it’s in the manor, but nothing more than that… it’s very hazy. I think that someone is trying to hide it from me.”

The spirit almost let out a huge sigh of relief but managed to keep it to himself. At least, it wasn’t in the _cellar_ … or at least, even though the awful possibility still existed, it wasn’t certain. Nonetheless, what the brat had just said promptly brought him back to reality.

-“ _Someone_ … you mean the person who made this dimension?” he asked, trying to gather as much information as possible about that very worrying situation. The kid shrugged, frowning as she replied.

-“I don’t know. Probably?” She shook her head. “I don’t think Vanessa would be able to hide something like the Time Pieces, since they are quite powerful, so-”

-“Don’t underestimate her, kiddo.” The warning came out by itself and Snatcher gritted his teeth as he realized what he had just said. Why couldn’t he keep his mouth shut?! He sighed, ignoring the sad look appearing on the child’s face. He didn’t need to be _pitied_. _Especially_ on something regarding _that woman._

And then it hit him. If they had to search for the Time Piece inside the manor, it certainly wouldn’t be easy to find. If someone had gone this far in order to hide the Time Piece from _its literal alien owner,_ Snatcher doubted he was going to find it on the dining table. The worst-case scenario would be to find it in _that place_ , and he very much hoped he wouldn’t have to set foot in there.

In any case, that meant he would need to go back there and _face Vanessa_. That simple thought made him shiver. He didn’t know if he would be able to. His ex _knew_ , and that alone was enough to scare him. Plus, the way she had been crying when he left, if Subcon was still standing at this time, she would still punish him in any horrible way.

What if she locked him in the cellar again? What if she froze him the instant she caught sight of him again? If he ever died or disappeared, t _hen what about the kid?_ If she wasn’t captured by Vanessa and her accomplice after that, she would either die with the Time Rift or asphyxiated in her own spaceship. But he used to want her _dead_! No, not “ _used to_ ” - he still did! Why did it bother him that much, then?

The ghost closed his eyes, not wanting to go on this trail of thoughts _at all_. Doing so wasn’t a good idea. _For reasons_. _Again_.

-“Snatcher?” The spirit reopened his eyes, only to find the little girl staring at him with a clear expression of worry on her face. The ghost felt a tingling in his chest as his eyes met hers. Great, just what he needed... _more feelings_! But that still didn’t change anything, and he knew very well what was going to happen eventually.

-“I’m going to go back there, aren’t I?” he asked, though it wasn’t a question. In the end, only the awful and horrifying recognition of what was waiting for him. He knew they couldn’t barge into the manor to steal the Time Piece without thinking, especially since they had no idea of _who_ was helping Vanessa. They would be in the enemy’s territory, thus in great disadvantage. Plus, the ghost couldn’t help but feel like there was much more to this story than what they first thought. It was like they were the pawns of that _someone_ ’s chessboard. Their puppets. Their toys. And Snatcher _hated_ that idea.

His question seemed to upset the child much more than what he anticipated. The hat-wearing kid lowered her eyes, as an expression of extreme guilt appeared on her face. She certainly had thought the same thing, without finding the courage to tell him. But Snatcher knew very well what needed to be done, much to his horror. However, the result wouldn’t be too different if he waited for the world to end itself. At least, even though Vanessa was extremely impulsive and volatile, they still had a chance.

Though, there was still the problem of that unknown enemy…

-“You don’t have to,” simply said the kid, in a quiet voice.

-“What other choice do we have, kiddo? Wait for death?” he replied, with an insincere scoff. “I mean, we don’t even know _who_ ’s behind this and _why_. You think _I_ want to go? Believe me, I don’t.” And he really, _really_ didn’t.

-“Then we could always wait for the night and go inside!” she countered, with a more panicked voice.

-“Yeah, and what about the guards outside?” He folded his arms in. “Trust me, we’ll definitely draw attention.”

A forced smile appeared on his lips and he stared into space, while the little girl was still trying to find other excuses for him not to go. Deep down, Snatcher knew he had no other choice. Not doing so would be accepting their doom without doing anything, and even though the afterlife was quite boring, he didn’t want to let go that easily. Plus, he finally had the occasion to take revenge on the one who had made not only his life hell but also his afterlife.

And even if he really didn’t want to admit it, even just to himself, there were… other r _easons_.

-“But…” The little voice brought him back to reality. “...what if she tries to hurt you again?”

The kid was now staring at his left hand, still in the warm water. Said hand didn’t hurt as much, which surprised him quite a lot, considering how bad the kid was at taking care of herself. At least, he had to admit he had been wrong to doubt her on that point.

He slowly raised his head towards the child once again and let a forced smile come on his ghostly lips. There were no other choice for now.

-“I thought we didn’t have much time?” he simply said, though the words felt so, so heavy in his mouth. His non-existent heart sunk as he accepted the only possible option they had for now. He had to go back, since Irony decided it would be the safest solution so far.

The kid’s face crumpled instantly, as she understood what meaning those words hid. She pounced towards him and threw herself into the spirit’s arms before he was able to do or say anything against it. The contact made him freeze completely and his injured hand left the saucepan suddenly, making it shake with the swift gesture. He felt the small arms of the girl hugging him tighter and tighter, as if she wanted to prove to herself that what was happening was real.

As if this was a _goodbye_.

Snatcher remained unmoving for a few seconds, not knowing how to act at all. The contact was so foreign to him, even more at this moment since he could feel sensations again. He could feel the kid’s heavy breathing against him, her heart pounding in her chest, her tears soaking his spectral form. Muffled sniffing could be heard, along with silent cries. The ghost’s arms were frozen mid-air. He didn’t know what to do with himself. After a while, he slowly lowered them, finally putting his hands on the kid’s shoulders. A horrible sensation, so, _so_ painful, awoken inside him, as his hands felt the contact of the child’s clothes.

What was wrong with him?

-“Okay, now, that’s enough, move it!” He pushed the kid away, trying to hide the sadness that had taken place on his spectral face. He hated what was happening to him. _It wasn’t like him_. The hat-wearing brat raised her head, and their eyes met once again. Hers were red and swollen, but she still tried to smile despite it.

-“Are you sure?” she asked one last time, even though she probably knew his answer already.

-“Yeah. Take me back.”

The little girl wiped her eyes and nose once again, before nodding in a much more determined manner. She then searched for something in one of the pockets of her pants and handed it to him. It was a remote.

-“If things turn bad, use this. It’ll teleport you here immediately. I don’t need it, but I always carry it with me, just in case. Seems like it might be useful to you, now.”

The ghost grabbed the device with his right hand, not wanting to use his injured one too much before a little while. He squeezed the object, almost afraid of letting it fall down.

-“Yeah... I could use that,” he answered as a thank you.

-“I’ll do everything to synchronise the time on the ship to yours. That way, I’ll be able to meet you again, without losing any more time. If I manage to, and if you don’t use the remote until then, I’ll send another message to let you know about another meeting place. Sounds good?”

The ghost dismissed her with a hand gesture, though he couldn’t help but feel very nervous about what would wait for him in Subcon Village. Would it be frozen? He supposed there was only one way to find out, at this point.

-“Yeah, yeah, I got it. Let’s stop wasting time now.”

The kid nodded again, but before he could react, she took him into her arms once again, hugging him much tighter than before.

-“Kiddo, you know I’m _dead_ and all, but if I were alive, you would have broken my ribs there, you know that?”

She chuckled at his words and let him go after a few seconds. The spirit held back a smile ( _what smile? He didn’t smile!)_ and floated away. The kid then lifted her right arm and clicked her fingers, after what had seemed like an eternity to Snatcher.

And then, everything went white again.

[Erekio](https://soundcloud.com/valerianne-feuillet) · [Hat Kid's Outburst](https://soundcloud.com/valerianne-feuillet/hat-kids-outburst)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, again with a cliffhanger, huh? Some things never change... I hope you liked this chapter! I can't wait to show you more of this story! Don't hesitate to share your impressions and theories, I LOVE reading them!!!
> 
> See you in the next chapter! (or earlier if you go on my Tumblr)


	11. “Hello?”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Snatcher comes back into the artificial dimension and has to put his escape plan into motion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Here's a new chapter!  
> I hope you'll like it. I admit I've been a little stuck on it for a few days, but now it's finished! I can't wait to show you the next one. Thank you Krekka01 for the correction!
> 
> If you want to see how the writing is going or see more AHIT stuff from me, you can check my art/writing blog: https://erekiosuncreativeideas.tumblr.com/
> 
> Happy reading!

If Snatcher’s first experience back in his old body had been quite unpleasant, his second one was almost as bad. He could feel his spectral form being replaced by fleshy parts, little by little. It was an awful feeling. It gave him the sensation of _almost_ being complete, but not really. Parts of him disappeared, only to be changed by something else, pieces of him that felt so paradoxically foreign. His tail was split into two heavy limbs- his _legs_. He loathed every possible sensation at that moment.

Was it something the hat-wearing kid experienced each time she had to teleport? God, how was she able to endure this several times? He had seen her teleport herself many times a day without even being bothered by it. Snatcher hated to admit it, but he actually felt admiration for her ( _at least regarding that particular issue_ ). In any other circumstances, he didn’t have much to admire, except the brat’s tenacity, maybe.

When the whiteness around him finally dissipated, the ghost fell, and his head hit the ground suddenly. The shock left him stunned for a while, as a vivid pain erupted in his brain. His eyes shut hard immediately and he gritted his teeth. Why was Life persecuting him so much? He didn’t deserve it! Or, well, he probably did, considering all the souls he had stolen, but still!

After a short moment, he felt his face warming up and his chest becoming heavier as time passed. The shade was confused for the first few seconds, before understanding what was happening: he had forgotten to breathe! As soon as he realized his mistake, he opened his mouth and tried to inhale as much air as possible without coughing; however, doing so was difficult, as he had to think every step in a precise way: “ _open your mouth, put your tongue down, inhale and exhale, then repeat_ ”. Just like the first time, he felt saliva pile up in his mouth, and a certain feeling of disgust settled over him at the thought of the repulsive liquid.

Humans were so _gross_.

Once his breathing got under control, Snatcher opened his eyes to look at his surroundings. The first thought that came to his mind at this moment was relief, as he recognized the back alley in which the brat had taken him. No sign of snow or ice. Far in the distance, he could hear muffled voices, and people went past the narrow alley he was in. People were still alive, completely oblivious to his presence. Nothing was trapped under several feet of ice and snow. That could only mean that Vanessa was still lucid. Or, lucid enough to control herself, at least.

“ _Thank God,_ ” he thought to himself, as a long sigh of relief escaped him.

However, something didn’t feel right. His surroundings had an orangey tint that made him anxious the more he pondered about it. It was only when he threw a glance at the sky that he understood why he felt this way: the sun was setting. Just like the hat-wearing child had told him, the time had passed much more quickly down there than on the ship. Snatcher had left this dimension late in the morning. He didn’t stay very long in the kid’s spaceship, not more than one or two hours, but the whole day seemed to have passed down here.

Or maybe a day and a half. What if he was gone for more than what he thought? Though, he shook his head, not believing that last possibility. If he had been gone for more than twenty-four hours, Vanessa would have probably frozen the place completely. Yet, it wasn’t the case here. Thus, he had certainly disappeared for six to eight hours at most. Though, knowing they had a countdown problem, having been gone for so long wasn’t a very good thing. It only meant that they had less time to solve a problem that was already hard to solve in the first place.

He managed to gulp down the saliva piled up in his mouth after a few tries and straightened up. The movement woke up the pain in his ( _now existent_ ) legs. He lifted his head to let out a frustrated sigh. Humans and their _awful_ , _horrible_ biology! At least his hand seemed much better than before, even though it wasn’t completely healed. In any case, it didn’t hurt as much as it used to, so the trip to the kid’s spaceship hadn’t been for nothing.

The shade clenched his teeth, ready for the pain to increase, as he slowly and carefully attempted to stand up. He tried to lean on the wall, in order to keep his balance more easily. He then managed to stand up, even if his legs shivered a bit too much for it to look natural. Standing up: _check_. Now, all he had to do was to move one of his legs forward and… he lost his already unstable balance and fell back on the ground. His right shoulder was the first thing to hit the cobblestone floor. The world around him became fuzzy once again, as the shock stunned him for a minute.

-“Great…” he grunted with a low voice, absolutely infuriated. _Why_ was it so _difficult_? He had been in his ghost body only for an hour or so! How could he have forgotten how to walk again?

His next attempts were more successful. It took him several minutes to adjust, but he eventually got back the balance he needed.

“ _Ah, finally!_ ” he thought, trying to make a few steps without falling down again. Fortunately, it became easier and easier the more he tried. When he was sure he could walk again, despite the pain in his legs, he moved towards the exit of the alley. He needed to go back to the manor, _now_. If knowing the world wasn’t frozen ( _yet_ ) made him feel better about this, he was still very much nervous about meeting with Vanessa again.

How was she going to react upon spotting him? The ghost had no idea about what she would do. She was completely unpredictable at this point, and that was what terrified Snatcher the most. He couldn’t anticipate anything. He couldn’t make any plan because it would be useless the instant he would enter the manor. Everything was going to turn way different than what he would prepare for.

The spirit tried to pull himself together. He couldn’t lose any more time. The only thing he could do now was to improvise. The question was: would he be able to do so in front of his murderer? One that knew he remembered what had happened? He wasn’t really sure, but what other choice did he have?

He gulped down and hid his face back in his hood. As soon as he was sure that no one would recognize him, the shade stepped out of the alley and blended with the crowd. He wasn’t sure if he would be able to walk all the way up to the manor. It was quite far from the village square, and being surrounded by so many people touching him and talking next to him… it made him feel extremely ill-at-ease. So much contact, so much noise… every little sensation was unpleasant by itself, but everything at the same time? It was very much overwhelming.

Snatcher walked a little bit until his eyes spotted something far in the distance. He squinted, trying to see what it was, lifting his hand to protect his face from the setting sun. His expression immediately lightened up when he recognized the familiar shape of a carriage, waiting for a client.

“ _Oh, finally something_ good _today!_ ” he thought to himself. He tried to move towards the carriage, but hesitated when he realized he had no money to pay the driver. If the ghost had his powers under this form, he would have forced said driver to do what he wanted, but there was no more energy left inside of him now that he was back into this useless body.

Just as he was about to resign himself to walk to the manor, he remembered something obvious: he was the _Prince_ , for God’s sake! He didn’t need to pay the driver himself when he had a bunch of servants waiting for him at the mansion! Why would anyone refuse to take him back to the manor? Snatcher used to be loved by every villager, back when he was alive. He and Vanessa had one of the best royal reputations in all the country. While other monarchs were hated, feared or simply ignored, the royal couple was admired by their subjects. That is, until the Queen decided to _murder_ the entire village. Subcon was then wiped out of the map, both metaphorically and literally.

It took him several minutes to reach the carriage, pushing any person in his way. The driver was a young man in his thirties, sitting on the perch of the vehicle. He was wearing a black top-hat with a long grey cloak. He seemed to notice Snatcher approaching him and nodded as an acknowledgement.

-“Do you need a ride, sir?” he asked, preparing his tools for the upcoming trip.

The ghost came closer, wishing not to be heard by anyone else around them.

-“I need to go to the manor. Can you take me there?” he questioned, pointing towards the mansion visible in the distance.

The man looked in the direction of his finger and simply shrugged.

-“Yeah, of course. As long as you can pay for it.”

“ _Well, at least, being a prince has its advantages,_ ” thought Snatcher, scoffing to himself. He lowered his hood, in order to let the man see his face. The driver’s reaction was immediate, as his eyes opened wide, fixed on the shade.

–“Prince Alistel?” exclaimed the young man, astonished by Snatcher’s presence before him. The ghost immediately hushed him, looking all around them to make sure no one had heard his name.

–“Pipe down! I’m incognito, here, I don’t want to be seen,” he explained, hoping the other wouldn’t ask for more justifications. “Can you drive me there or not?” he added harshly.

Fortunately, the driver didn’t insist, probably sensing the spirit’s wish to shorten the conversation as soon as possible.

-“Yea- I mean, yes, of course, my Prince,” he said the last words in a much more quiet tone, before straightening himself. In a way, his attitude wasn’t very surprising: one always wanted to show themselves in their best light in front of royalty. Snatcher liked to be respected; however, at that moment, he really wasn’t in the right mood for that.

-“Perfect, now let’s go,” he demanded coldly, already opening the carriage door. The young man clearly perceived his bad mood and quickened his pace. With a swift move, he replaced himself on the perch, while the shade sat inside the vehicle. It wasn’t long before the carriage started moving, as sounds of hooves hitting the ground resonated in Snatcher’s ears. His body moved with the vehicle, even more when the latter passed on cobbled streets. The landscape went by, but the shade only stared into space, too nervous about his next meeting with Vanessa.

He had no idea about how she was going to react upon seeing him, and it terrified him. The ghost hated to admit it because it gave him the feeling of being weak, but if he had to be completely honest with himself, well… he _was_ weak. The spirit had lost his powers, he was stuck in a meat body, stuck in soon-to-be-doomed dimension, while having at least one powerful opponent which happened to be his crazy ex-wife! He was _clearly_ disadvantaged on many, _many_ points.

The more the carriage brought him closer to Vanessa, the sicker he felt. The anguish settled over him was growing stronger and stronger, making his legs tremble on their own. The shade quickly put his hands on his knees, trying to keep them still, in vain. He gritted his teeth. That was why he hated being in a human body so much: it didn’t obey him! When he was dead, he didn’t have to worry about subconscious reactions!

He increased the pressure of his hands, doing his best to contain his growing fear. His nails hurt the skin of his legs, but he didn’t care. He just wanted it to stop, once and for all. Minutes went by in almost complete silence, only broken by the sound of his quick breathing and the pounding of his heart in his chest.

The ghost threw a brief glance at the window. His face turned pale instantly, as he realized how close they were from the manor. It was like a cold shower, his muscles tensing up from the recognition. Maybe he was going to die in a few minutes! Maybe he would be thrown down in the cellar once again! Who could tell? _Certainly not himself_.

His breathing rhythm increased, as he let his head fall on the cold backrest. There was no way he was going to stay calm. He had been scared of Vanessa for years, even if he denied it a lot, and this time was no different.

The ghost closed his eyes and waited for the trip to end. As soon as he felt the wheels stop under him, he clenched his fists on his legs. _This was it_.

His internal struggle was suddenly broken by the young driver’s voice, who had just opened the door for him.

-“Here we are, my Prince,” he announced, before adding with a worried voice.“Are you alright? Did I drive too fast?”

Snatcher silenced him with a hand gesture as he tried to regain his composure as much as possible.

-“No, I… I feel fine,” replied the ghost as he pinched his nose. The shade got out of the carriage and gave a last instruction to the driver:

-“I’ll get someone to pay you, wait here.”

Well, only if he wasn’t killed on the spot by a livid woman. In that case, bringing money to the driver would be the least worrying problem on his already overloaded shoulders. Said man saluted him and proudly positioned himself next to his vehicle.

“ _I wonder if you’ll still stand that way once she becomes completely crazy and freezes everything in the process,_ ” thought the shade, as he threw a last glance to the other. Well, here went nothing!

Snatcher took a long and deep breath and stepped forward. The more he moved towards the doors of the mansion, the shakier were his legs. The pain was still there but, the fear inside him was big enough to hide it. When he arrived just in front of the wooden surface, he hesitantly grabbed the door handle. There was no going back, he knew this, though he couldn’t help but feel the urge to flee and never come back, but he didn’t have any other choice. Thus, the spirit opened the front door as he shut his eyes hard, afraid of what might be hiding behind it. However, when only silence greeted him, surprise took over him. He expected cries, screams, loud accusations, not this… _nothing_.

Slowly and very carefully, Snatcher reopened his eyes to inspect the entrance hall. His surprised expression was soon replaced by a confused one as he noticed that no one was there, waiting for him as he had expected. What was happening? Sure, Vanessa was still lucid, since she hadn’t frozen anything ( _yet_ ), but he had thought she would be there on his return.

The ghost entered the room prudently, attentive to any movement all around him, but nothing came. Everything had remained the same since his outburst: no ice on the blue walls, neither on the skirting board; no furniture had been destroyed nor shoved aside, no dangerous aura could be felt, and no desperate cries could be heard. Snatcher had expected a lot of things, but “ _nothing_ ” certainly hadn’t been on the list.

He made a few more steps, more and more nervous as seconds went by.

-“Hello?” he called out, unsure. There weren’t many other ways to find out about his future fate, and this one was the safest one. He _could_ enter without informing anyone of his arrival, but he didn’t want to imagine how worse his situation could become if he ever bumped into Vanessa after that. He supposed that it was much better to act now and hope for the best.

He waited for a minute before he heard rapid footsteps coming right in his direction. Instinctively, he prepared himself both mentally and physically, adopting a defensive pose. The shade definitely thought that the owner of those quick footsteps would be his ex-wife, though he was very much taken aback when Simeon appeared instead. The butler’s face was full of concern and worry and his eyes opened wide as he spotted the ghost waiting in the hall.

-“Simeon?” blurted the spirit.

-“Oh, my Prince, you’re here!” exclaimed the older man, a bit too loud for Snatcher’s taste. “Everyone has been so worried about you! You’re injured, and you shouldn’t wander outside in your condition!”

The butler came closer, offering his arm for Snatcher to lean on. The ghost remained pensive for a few instants. Could Simeon be Vanessa’s accomplice? The hat-wearing kid had said there was someone pulling the strings in the dark, and that the Queen wasn’t the real mastermind in what was happening. If Simeon was the culprit, then _why_? He was loyal to Vanessa’s family, admittedly, but Snatcher couldn’t see any reason for him to act this way other than that. The man had always been nice and benevolent, despite his rigorous behaviour. The latter was caused by his workaholic attitude and not because of any hidden malicious intent. Simeon couldn’t be the mastermind they were looking for.

The spirit suddenly thought about something: the mastermind had to be alive before the creation of that altered dimension. Simeon, just like the other villagers, had been murdered by the Queen in the past. How could a _dead person_ create anything? Aside from Vanessa, Snatcher was the _only_ powerful ghost in Subcon Forest. That could only mean that the accomplice was not a Subcon resident. Then, _who_?

-“My Prince?” repeated Simeon, breaking Snatcher’s train of thoughts.

-“Oh, uh, sorry,” he apologized, before continuing nervously. “How… how is Vanessa?”

If the shade was extremely afraid of that answer, seeing the butler’s face lighting up made him quite confused.

-“Oh, the Queen is going to be so relieved to see you back home!” said Simeon, absolutely _delighted_ , as he kept talking. “She has been worried about you so much! I’ll take you to your room first, and I’ll tell her the good news as soon as you’re properly settled in your bed.”

The shade felt instantly sick to his stomach when he heard those words. “ _yeah, she’ll be_ so _relieved that I’m finally here so she can shackle me up to a wall for days…_ ” he thought to himself, as his fear came back at full force.

-“Hum, wait, before you do that…” retorted Snatcher, trying his best to come up with any excuse able to delay the inevitable, “well, I came with a driver. He’s waiting outside for his payment.”

-“Oh, of course!”

Snatcher hoped it would give him more time to prepare himself for what was to come, but the butler only used his hands as a loud-hailer and called out a name that felt familiar to Snatcher:

-“Rosamund!” The volume of his voice made the ghost jump, not expecting to be surprised like this. He shifted a bit, alarmed; Simeon’s voice had been loud enough to resonate through the whole mansion. If a servant could hear it, so could Vanessa.

His unease was soon picked up by the butler, whose face was full of worry again.

-“Is something wrong, my Prince?” He lifted his arm again before continuing. “Please don’t hesitate to lean on my shoulder to ease your pain.”

-“No, no, I’m… I’m fine.”

-“Are you sure? I planned to fetch a doctor as soon as you’re back in your bed, but if you would rather go and see them directly, I can organize that right away.”

Snatcher shook his head as an answer. As appealing as the possibility was to him, he knew he couldn’t back away now. No matter how scared he was, fleeing wouldn’t change anything to his situation. This dimension was doomed, and right now, he was the only one who could gather enough information in order to leave this place. The hat-wearing girl wasn’t supposed to be here, she would stand out too much compared to the other villagers. Furthermore, if all of them had been created by _someone_ , then they would quickly notice the additional kid wandering around. Snatcher always preferred to let others do his jobs instead, though this time, it was best for everyone’s interest if she remained hidden for now. She was his escape door and, as much as he hated to admit it, he needed her _alive_.

The ghost was brought back to reality as a silhouette appeared in the corner of his vision. He turned towards the person and recognized the young maid that had been yelled at by Vanessa the day before. So her name was Rosamund? Well, now he knew why that name had felt familiar. She looked much better than the last time he saw her, probably because Vanessa wasn’t in the room. Well, it was all the same for him as well. She saluted him with a bow, to which Snatcher replied with a simple nod.

Simeon took a few pieces out of his costume pocket and gave them to the young lady, who had waited patiently next to them.

-“Find the driver waiting outside and give him that, will you?” Rosamund nodded and saluted the spirit one last time before leaving the room with the money.

-“Well, let me help you now.”

Snatcher lifted his own hand to rest on Simeon’s shoulder, but a series of noises interrupted him and made him freeze. He could hear quick footsteps coming near them, and this time, he knew they didn’t belong to anyone but the one he had been so scared of.

Blond hair and a green dress appeared in his vision, as Vanessa came out of the right hallway, only stopping when she caught sight of the spirit. Snatcher’s heart stopped beating the second his eyes met hers, and a feeling of horror engulfed him as he couldn’t help but stare at her, helplessly.

-“You’re back…!” she murmured, lifting her hands to her mouth as an overjoyed smile painted her features. As for the ghost, he was _everything_ but overjoyed, unable to move a single muscle in front of her. He was like frozen in place, only metaphorically, fortunately… f _or now_.

-“I’m so happy!” exclaimed the Queen, as she rushed in his direction, hugging him in a very tight embrace as soon as it was physically possible. “You came back for me!”

Snatcher felt like all of his bones had been turned into ice, as he remained absolutely still in his ex-wife’s arms. His mind was blank, and he had no idea how he was able to stay calm at a moment like this. His body was urging him to flee, to protect himself against her, to fight for his survival, but all he could do was remain unmoving, as fear and terror fully engulfed him. The ghost could feel her heart pounding in her chest against him, smell her sweet perfume, feel her soft hair on his cheeks, hear her excited breathing… and feel the icy contact of her hands on his back.

-“I knew you’d come back to me eventually,” she said in a gentle yet _insincere_ voice, as she tightened her arms around his chest, clearly threatening. “So… where have you been this whole day?”

She raised her head from his shoulders and looked at him with a _cold_ smile.

-“I’m _so sorry_ for this morning, I don’t know what has gotten into me lately! Now, let’s go to your room so you can rest. I _can’t wait_ to hear what you did today!”

She was simply _livid_ , Snatcher knew this very well. He wanted to go, to leave, to flee as far away as possible. All his instincts were screaming at him, ordering him to choose the safest path in order to survive; however, all he could do in return was to nod weakly and slowly. He forced a little smile to his lips, terrified of what might happen if he was to upset her at a time like this.

-“Perfect!” she cheered, taking him arm in arm, as she waved to Simeon.

-“I will take _my Prince_ to his room. Fetch the doctor for me, will you?”

The butler bowed strictly in response, smiling _warmly_ to the royal couple as he left the entrance hall. The ghost wanted to call him back, beg for him to stay so he wouldn’t stay alone with his crazy ex, but he couldn’t find the courage to do so. And what difference would it make in the end? She had strong and dangerous powers, and they were only fragile humans. What could a simple human do against her?

Snatcher jumped as he felt her cold hand tighten around his arm, and quickly turned his head back to her. If her lips were smiling, her eyes definitely were _not_.

-“Now… I believe we have _a lot_ to talk about, don’t we?” Though, the way she was looking at him was clear enough to the spirit: it wasn’t a question.

He had no idea what Vanessa had in mind, but he was sure he wouldn’t like it _at all_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love writing cliffhangers, sorry :'D  
> I can't wait to hear your impressions and theories on that new chapter! Don't hesitate to comment, as it greatly helps me to find the inspiration.
> 
> Take care, see you in the next chapter !


	12. “Are you being serious right now?”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Snatcher and Vanessa have a conversation, featuring someone else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SORRY FOR POSTING LATE. I was *so* stuck with this chapter that it gave me a writing block and an art block for 2 weeks! Of all the chapters that I had to write and plan to write in the future, it definitely was one of the hardest. Thinking about writing Vanessa's and Snatcher's conversation was really stressful to me, and, well... I procrastinated on Animal Crossing.
> 
> Then I started another AHIT fanfic which helped me to regain my inspiration, but, well, I'll keep this one as a secret for now until I write more of it :)
> 
> Anyway, as always, if you want to follow me on Tumblr, it's here : https://erekiosuncreativeideas.tumblr.com/  
> You can ask me questions there, suggest things... 
> 
> I hope you'll enjoy this chapter ! Please don't hesitate to leave a comment if you did, as this chapter really has been hard for me to write, more than any I've written until now for this fanfic I think.  
> Thank you in advance !!
> 
> Also, no drawing for this chapter, because, well... You know how I have this habit of splitting chapters into several parts when I end up writing too much for a single chapter? Welp, this happened here. So the drawing I had made for this chapter will eventually be used for the 13th chapter, sorry ! I really wish I could have drawn something, but... I didn't know what to draw and I didn't want to make you wait longer, so... Have a drawing-less chapter !
> 
> Happy reading !!

Snatcher had come to think that humans were fragile little creatures. They were so weak, so easily afraid… Animals with a conscience, driven by instincts and stupid emotions. With shaking knees, they would beg him to spare them, to let them go, but the ghost always killed them afterwards. Listening to their pleas, to their death screams… Sure, the first souls he had snatched hadn’t been for pleasure, though he eventually got used to it. He even got to find it fun! As they always say: time and trauma really _do_ change people!

Humans had distinct signs of fear: rapid breathing, heart pounding inside their chest, sweat all over their face, muscles completely frozen, shaky limbs… He had seen all kinds of reactions from his victims! At this point, one could say he was an expert on that topic. After all, not only had he killed many people after having stolen their souls, but he also murdered them using various and imaginative methods! Thrown into the swamps, blown up by his lasers, drown, hanged, split in two (that one was always fun), and many, _many_ other types of death. Well, he _did_ have to occupy himself during his long and boring afterlife!

But, for the very first time, at that precise moment, he felt _exactly_ like the people he used to kill.

Panic had engulfed him whole, as Vanessa was leading him by the hand through the corridors of the manor. She was in front of him, pulling him faster and faster as seconds passed. Or maybe it was his imagination? If it was, the coldness of her hand _certainly wasn’t_. Vanessa was clearly mad at him and even his dumb old self would be able to see it. It was _obvious_ : her body was tensed and she was using more strength, as if she was pulling a child somewhere to punish him. Well, it wasn’t very far from the truth, really.

They went through the different floors, and Snatcher could only be relieved not to be taken to the cellar again. Maybe he was going to have a bad time, but at least, it wouldn’t be _down there_. Every cloud had a silver lining! He was being positive, here!

The ghost’s fear was soon replaced by confusion, as Vanessa stopped in front of his own bedroom. Why? The shade was almost expecting to be locked up in the attic at this point! Would she really just let him go back to his room without doing anything else than actually talking? He couldn’t believe it. There had to be something.

The Queen opened the door with a smile and pushed herself on the side to let him come in first. With great suspicion, Snatcher complied and entered the room, still staying very much vigilant. Vanessa was vicious, he knew that very well. He couldn’t take the risk of underestimating her or whatever she had planned for him now. His movements were slow and careful and his ex followed him into the room before closing the door behind her. Instinctively, Snatcher stepped away from her, not liking the idea of being alone in the same room as her. It made him feel rightfully _quite nervous_.

Vanessa dusted her dress a little bit as silence settled between the ex-couple. The ghost gulped down with difficulty, as he could only wait for her to decide what to do next. Eventually, she pointed to his bed, still smiling. However, Snatcher knew her well enough to understand that she wasn’t sincere.

-“Why don’t you sit down, dear?” she asked, in the _nicest_ voice possible. But her eyes weren’t smiling and the sound of her words burnt like poison entering the shade’s ears. It sounded _fake_.

The ghost’s stance remained defensive as he slowly shook his head, frowning. He really didn’t like where this was going. It was way better than being shackled on the cellar’s wall, _obviously_ , but that didn’t mean he would accept everything in comparison.

-“I’m fine standing up, _thank you_ ,” he replied, in a much harsher tone than what he first intended. He was still afraid -who wouldn’t be in his shoes?- but he had _a lot_ of unfinished business with that awful woman.

The Queen’s smile wavered for an instant and Snatcher didn’t need to see more to know that he had annoyed her. Well, retorting always upset her in the past: it wasn’t much different now. Vanessa had always been hot-blooded, anything could get her angry or upset. Not being given what she wanted irritated her, not being able to do something exasperated her, and not being obeyed to made her _mad_. Especially if _her Prince_ was the one to disagree with her.

-“I wasn’t _asking_ ,” replied Vanessa coldly. It contrasted even more with the fake smile on her face.

Snatcher understood quite fast the threat hidden in her answer: if he wasn’t going to sit down, she would _make him_. And honestly, he didn’t want to try and test her patience, even more when he knew how irritable she could be when things didn’t go her way. Silently and reluctantly, the shade complied once again, not without glaring at her in the process.

He hated her _so much_. He hated how selfish she was and had always been to him. He hated the very idea of having been in love with her in the past. And he loathed the fact that he could die a second time because of her.

He waited, knowing quite well that Vanessa wouldn’t appreciate him interrupting her one more time. Usually, Snatcher didn’t care about people’s feelings, _especially Vanessa’s_ , but since he was now a mere mortal against someone who had mastered ice magic… He didn’t feel confident enough to put up a big fight.

Plus… He needed all possible chances to find that Time Piece, and creating problems wouldn’t help him in the least. If he wanted to get out of here as soon as possible, he had to put his pride aside. Yet, he absolutely _loathed_ the idea of submitting to Vanessa, even just for a while. After everything she did to him… And _kept doing_ , considering the position he was in at the moment, he wanted nothing more than to strangle her and kill her for good. _Twice_.

-“Now…” The Queen’s voice cut his inner monologue short and he got his attention back on her: “Where were you today?” was the first thing that came out of her mouth.

Snatcher felt all the muscles of his body turn cold as soon as the words came to his ears. He had expected that question, yes, but it was always different to imagine a situation and _actually experiencing_ it. As for where he was, well… He definitely had no intention of mentioning the kid nor her spaceship in any way. So he could only come up with excuses and hope for the best. But, deep down, he was worried and rightfully so: Vanessa _always knew_ how to tell if he was lying or not. Sure, Snatcher had become better at it with years of being dead, but _so did she_.

He really was nervous, and keeping a straight face in front of his murderer was far from easy:

-“I went for a walk after the argument with my parents,” he answered with the most neutral voice he could make: “Am I not allowed to do that?”

His ex’s smile widened in return, though Snatcher could tell that it certainly wasn’t a good thing. The way she was looking at him was enough to inform him that she was growing impatient and exasperated with him. She probably saw through his lies right away, just like he feared. But it didn’t change the fact that he absolutely could _not_ talk about the kid. _Not to her_.

-“Oh, you are, you are!” she replied with a sweet voice, joining both hands together as she continued: “But I have to admit that I have some doubts.”

There it was. Snatcher gulped down in a way he hoped to be discreet, but he knew better.

-“With your broken leg, and the other one being quite injured as well… I have trouble imagining you going very far, especially for a _whole day_! Don’t you find it strange as well, _Alistel_?”

It was indeed very strange. Finding a reason for such a long absence, especially with how _painful_ walking was to him… He had to admit that his excuse wasn’t a good one, to begin with. However, that didn’t prevent him from retorting, lifting his hands as he spoke again:

-“Well, it’s the truth. What do you want me to say?”

His attitude must have annoyed the Queen a bit too much, as the smile finally disappeared from her face. It was replaced by a much more serious expression that didn’t reassure Snatcher at all. She stepped closer to him, shortening the distance between them.

-“I know you’re aware of what’s going on,” she murmured, her eyes fixed on his. She stopped just in front of him, while the ghost’s breath got stuck in his throat. He didn’t like where this was going and he disliked the look on her face even more. Before he was able to move, she _gently_ put her hands on his shoulders, forcing him to remain where he was. Snatcher’s entire body froze from the contact and his heart skipped a beat. He felt like a bucket full of cold water had just been dumped right on him.

He was _terrified_. As much as he wanted to scream at her, doing so while she was so close to him, when she was much more powerful than him… His mind wanted to fight, but his body turned a deaf ear. Snatcher wanted to tell her to let go of him, to go away… But he couldn’t. No sound came out of his opened mouth.

All he could do was to listen, as she continued, this time with a nicer tone that felt strangely more sincere than before:

-“I know you…Remember,” she started again, lightly digging her fingers in the shade’s shoulders, who was completely unable to move at that point: “And I know you might still be mad at me for what happened… But you left me no choice!”

Snatcher frowned: _what did she just say_?

He didn’t have the time to ask her that as she kept going, not letting him the time to interrupt:

-“I may have overdone it, yes… But you were the one who cheated on me in the first place!”

Snatcher couldn’t believe what he was hearing at that moment. Was she seriously trying to _defend_ herself for having _murdered_ him? She couldn’t be _that stupid_ , could she? Though, the sincere expression painted on her face was enough of an answer to him. She was convinced that everything that had happened was _his_ fault, not _hers_.

She was _exactly_ the same as before. She had _never_ changed in all those years. She was still the same old Queen that never wanted to admit being responsible for a problem. She had _never_ regretted what she had one to him or to all the Subcon villagers, even the children. All that mattered to her was her own happiness, no matter what she had to break or destroy to obtain it.

The ghost had never wanted to kill her so badly in his entire life and afterlife combined.

-“Are you being _serious_ right now?” he finally replied, with a very dangerous tone.

Vanessa remained stunned for a while, probably not expecting that kind of response from him.

-“What do you mean?” she asked, confused. She then placed both of her hands over her heart and continued, offended: “Of course I am! You can’t have forgotten what you did to me! You broke my heart and flirted with… With _that woman_!”

Snatcher’s brows rose as his anger was becoming more and more palpable as time passed. So she _was_ being serious, and he wasn’t even surprised. A dense feeling of hatred engulfed him as he glared at her.

-“ _I_ broke _your_ heart? Excuse me? _You_ broke _mine_!” He was so outraged by what she had just told him that he couldn’t help but stand up, forcing her to step back. Words were leaving his mouth on their own, as if _finally_ , he had the chance of getting _everything_ out of his chest: “I was buying _you_ flowers! Because I was _in love_ with you! And what did you do when I came back with them? You _locked me up in a cellar_ and left me to _die_! And _I’m_ the one who broke _your_ heart? _Please_ , stop, you’re making things worse for yourself, here.”

He stopped, catching his breath. In front of him, Vanessa was silent, unmoving, as if she was still processing what he had just screamed at her. She seemed astonished and Snatcher quickly understood why: he had _never_ raised his voice against her like this. _She did_. That was certainly why she was so surprised. But soon, her bewilderment was replaced by fury, as her brows frowned and her face became redder and redder with anger. The air around her suddenly became much colder and the ghost could see the tip of her hair turning black. Her eyes were turning red and she was glaring at him in a way she had never done before. She was _livid_.

-“You’re lying! You never loved me! You _played_ with me!” She suddenly pointed an accusing finger at him: “You went to see _her_ today, didn’t you?”

Snatcher’s face grew pale. Did she know about the kid? He gulped down with difficulty.

-“What are you talking about?” he questioned, trying to look ignorant enough. But his ex wasn’t buying it and the ghost jumped when she screamed once again:

-“That _florist_!” Ice spread on the ground around her as her voice resonated in the room and probably in the entire manor too. “ _Anger_ ” wasn’t enough to describe her state of mind at the moment. Her hair was becoming blacker as seconds went by and she seemed out of breath, as if, just like him, she was getting something out of her chest: “I’m giving us the chance to get things right, to erase _your_ past mistakes, and _that’s_ how you’re thanking me? You ingrate!”

Snatcher was well past simple “anger” as well the second she pronounced those last sentences. She couldn’t have said that, she couldn’t be _that_ stupid… But here she was, telling him how _she_ was doing the _right_ thing, like she was the _mature adult_ in this story!

 _What a joke_.

-“ _You_? Doing the _right_ thing?” He stepped forward, making her back away once again: “Don’t make me _laugh_ ,” he responded, in the most spiteful tone he could manage.

The shade then pointed to their surroundings:

-“You think _this_ is real, Vanessa? You think you’re doing _me_ , _us_ , a favour by doing _this_? Well, _newsflash_! You’re _not_! And you know why?” Vanessa remained silent, though returned him his glare, as he kept going: “All of this is _fake_! It doesn’t exist! It’s an _imitation_ of the past! Don’t tell me you _actually_ believe this is real.”

-“You’re lying,” she simply answered, as serious as he was a few moments ago. She was clearly displeased and in denial. She always has been, in the end. This was what had led him to his first death and what would lead to their second one if she continued to remain so stubborn.

-“Oh, I’m lying! I’m _always_ lying, that’s what you think, isn’t it? Well, guess what? I never was! And what I just said? It’s true! Not only everything here is _fake_ , but it’ll be _gone_ in a few days, and so will we! Great way to make things right, Vanessa!”

He clapped his hands sarcastically to emphasize his last sentence. The movement seemed to be the straw that broke the camel’s back, as Vanessa snapped once again. She came back right before him and grabbed his hands to stop him from clapping again. The contact of her gloves against his skin was _awful_ to Snatcher. Her icy hands were a clear sign of her fury. It was so cold that it _hurt_.

-“You’re lying, you’re lying, _you’re lying_!” yelled Vanessa, as her hair was now almost completely black and getting sharper, the same way Snatcher’s spectral form became when he was extremely furious: “How would you know?! _I_ did this, not _you_!”

Because of the pain on his wrists, Snatcher had to clench his teeth not to whine. He still managed to let out a few words, trying his best not to show himself weaker than he already was:

-“Don’t… Don’t tell me you haven’t seen those white cracks appearing out of nowhere!”

As if the words had a special meaning to Vanessa, she suddenly loosened her grip on his wrists. Her enraged expression changed in a blink, replaced by something akin to realization. Her face grew almost as pale as Snatcher’s and she let go of his hands, still keeping them in the air, shocked.

 _She had seen them_. That was what it meant.

-“Those are not… That’s not what _he_ -” she stuttered, looking elsewhere as an inner fight seemed to be going on in her mind. Snatcher, however, didn’t miss the very important blunder she just made in her attempt to retort something.

She had just said “ _he_ ”. For the first time in days, he had a concrete clue about the mastermind behind what was happening.

Apparently, she noticed her own mistake and immediately put her hand over her mouth, as if she wanted to silence herself. But it was too late. Snatcher needed to know who that “ _he_ ” was to her, and also _to him_.

-“Vanessa. Who’s ‘he’?” he interrogated her, feeling that this was definitely a trail he needed more details on.

The woman simply shook her head silently, refusing to answer him. Though, it really wasn’t enough to stop the shade from wanting to know more. What _did_ stop him, however, was a knock on the door. Both he and Vanessa turned in its direction.

“ _Well, what a lucky interruption…_ ” thought Snatcher, while glaring at the door. With a quick “ _come in!_ ”, he allowed the person behind the door to enter the room. Unsurprisingly, Simeon was the one to come in, closing the door behind him. The butler was standing up straight, as usual. In comparison, what was weird was the way Vanessa’s face became paler than it already was. She instantly looked the other way, like a child caught in the act.

“ _Wait…_ ” Was she reacting this way because of Simeon’s apparition in the room?

Snatcher didn’t have much time to wonder any more on the question, as his inner monologue was cut short by the older man:

-“My apologies, your majesty,” he started, bowing slightly in front of the ex-couple: “I needed to tell you that the doctor is on his way. If you’d like, Prince Alistel, I had someone prepare a bath for you. You must be really tired.”

The man was smiling, but contrary to all the other times the ghost had seen him smile… Something felt _wrong_. His happiness seemed just as fake as Vanessa’s one a few minutes earlier. Then, there was her reaction to him… It was extremely suspect and Snatcher started to think again about his previous hypothesis. Was the mastermind Simeon? Could it be possible?

But _why_? It didn’t make any sense! Simeon was dead even before the rift was made! And the hat-wearing child had been very clear: Vanessa couldn’t have been the one to make this time rift. But then… _How_?

Snatcher didn’t understand, yet… He definitely had the impression that there was something he wasn’t seeing. But it was _there_ , and his ex’s reaction was one of his biggest clues, along with her previous blunder.

Simeon’s stare made the ghost strangely ill-at-ease and, for a reason he couldn’t explain yet, he felt the need to run. But why? Simeon had been the family’s loyal butler! Though, then again, he had been the butler of _Vanessa’s family_. Not his. And if his hypothesis was right, no matter how far-fetched it was to him… Well, it was best to be extremely careful. Especially if the mastermind was clearly more powerful than the Queen herself.

Snatcher finally nodded and put a fake smile on his lips.

-“Yes, you’re right. I _am_ quite tired,” he declared, moving towards the door. As he passed next to Simeon, he thanked him for the bath. The butler’s smile widened as he replied:

-“Oh, you’re welcome, my Prince. If you need anything else, please tell me, I will do everything in my power to help you.”

-“I will, thank you.”

Snatcher left the room and closed the door behind him. Once he was alone in the hallway, he felt like a huge weight had been removed from his shoulders. He couldn’t tell _why_ exactly, yet he knew that this had to do with what had just happened. Why did he felt this way? Why did Vanessa have reacted so badly? He hated to be in the dark like this, especially knowing that he and the kid had a countdown problem. He didn’t know exactly how much time they had left. The brat had told him “a few days”, but it wasn’t very precise.

Plus, if Vanessa had also witnessed time anomalies… Then, it meant the rift was probably more unstable than what they first thought. They needed to find that Time Piece, fast, and preferably without being caught first.

Instead of leaving to the bathroom like he should have done, he kneeled in front of the door, sticking his ear on the door. If he wanted to be sure about his hypothesis, there weren’t many other possibilities. It’s not like he could ask Vanessa, or even ask Simeon directly! He wasn’t a moron and definitely didn’t have a death wish.

Silence greeted him for a few seconds. At first, he believed that the door was too thick to let sounds go through. However, just as he was about to stand up, he caught up a muffled voice through the wood:

-“You really do not understand, do you?

Snatcher’s body froze, as he realized that this voice wasn’t Simeon’s nor Vanessa’s. _Then who was talking_? It was masculine and its intonation had been disapproving. The voice was peculiarly soft and not really deep. In any case, it was a voice the ghost didn’t know. Who was in the room with them? Everything was so much more confusing now!

He frowned and kept listening, trying to find other clues useful to him. Vanessa’s voice was quick to reply to the stranger:

-“I-I’m sorry, I tried to stay calm!” His ex sounded really distressed. The shade never heard her sound like this before and it actually made him feel nervous. If someone was _scaring_ Vanessa, while _he_ did not… Well, this was not good for him and the kid.

Who _was_ that guy?

-“I find it quite weird that you choose to use that excuse again,” retorted the voice, threatening.

Silence ensued and Snatcher remained completely unmoving as he waited for the others to talk again. It didn’t last very long but it truly felt like hours to him.

-“You know,” continued the stranger, “after I decided to help you, I think I made you promise to keep your anger under control. Tell me, do you remember that?”

The spirit could tell very easily from the tone of the voice that it wasn’t really a question.

-“Yes… Yes, I did.”

-“So… May I ask you what you do not understand in that simple request? Because I would _gladl_ y explain it to you again.”

The threats were absolutely not hidden anymore now. _Damn_ , that guy truly had threatening potential! In any other situation, Snatcher would have felt something akin to jealousy or admiration, depending on the person speaking, but in the present… He felt as much threatened as Vanessa, perhaps more, since she had powers to defend herself while he did not.

He forced his mind to focus on reality when he heard Vanessa apologize:

-“I’m sorry. I promise I’ll be more careful.”

-“This is exactly what you promised me this morning and yet, you still managed to reveal my existence to him just now. _What a shame_.”

Snatcher’s eyebrows rose: did that guy just got Vanessa to _apologize_ to him? What was he using, _witchcraft_? Both in his life and afterlife, Snatcher never managed to get a sincere “ _I’m sorry_ ” from her! And that stranger got her to say those words just like this? Seriously, _who was that guy_?

-“Please do not make me regret helping you. We still have much to do for your dream to come true. Do _not_ waste the chance I am offering you.”

-“But…!”

Snatcher stuck his ear to the door even more, extremely curious about what Vanessa was about to say after that kind of threat.

-“He- Alistel told me that this isn’t real. That this world will disappear in a few days…”

-“Oh please, are you believing _him_ more than _me_?” answered the voice, outraged: “I _offered_ you a way to go back in time, to erase what went wrong, and you would rather believe _him_? The man who _cheated_ on you? Vanessa, _dear_ , you really are hurting my feelings.” He paused before continuing: “If there is _anyone_ to trust here, it is _me_. You should know that by now.”

Snatcher was instantly filled with absolute fury at the stranger’s affirmations.

“ _This guy…!_ ” The spirit had never cheated on Vanessa! She was the one who went crazy and murdered an entire village! How dared he-

The ghost suddenly realized that if he stayed here any longer, he would be found out very soon. The conversation seemed almost over now, and this was his chance to leave before being caught. He did get all the information he needed to prove that Simeon was implied. Though… Did that mean that “Simeon” wasn’t really him? That someone was impersonating him? This was all Snatcher could think of.

He quickly stood up, as silently as possible, and walked away fast until he hid behind a corner. He waited for a bit and, after a few minutes, finally saw Simeon walking out of the room. Vanessa was coming right after him, looking at her own feet. This was really a weird sight to Snatcher. Normally, it would make him laugh, but now… It only meant that whoever was working with Vanessa was much, _much_ more dangerous than her.

“ _Who are you…?_ ” he wondered to himself, as he stared at the back of “Simeon”, who was walking towards the stairs, followed by Vanessa. Once the ghost was completely alone, he tried to relax his body, which had been tensed for quite a while.

Whoever was that guy… He and the kid would have to be really careful from now on. The sooner they left, the better.

Snatcher frowned and finally looked away from the staircase. Well… Now, he had a bath to take. Maybe it would help him to understand better what was happening in the dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHO THIS STRANGER MIGHT BE, HUM....
> 
> I hoped you liked this chapter ! Please tell me if you did, it really helps me a lot, you have no idea. I work a lot with motivation and I get writing blocks when I become hesitant about my stories. Even comments with a single emoji help, I assure you.
> 
> I hope everyone is doing well with everything that is happening around the world right now. Please stay safe, don't take risks. Good luck to everyone, I think we all need it with the sanitary crisis going on.
> 
> See you in the next chapter !


	13. “Oh, this is going to be awful, isn’t it…”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Snatcher finally gets some "me-time" and everything goes perfectly well!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for posting late, but I promise I had a reason to wait. I'm keeping it secret for now, but believe me, it's worth it ! In the meantime, I had the time to finish two future drawings AND the next chapter (which has been SUPER HARD TO WRITE, UUUGH), so I used my time well !
> 
> The two drawings you'll see are mine. Sorry if the second one is only a sketch, I didn't have the inspiration or motivation to finish it. I hope you'll still like it nonetheless!  
> A big thanks to Krekka01 for the correction on this chapter !
> 
> Like always, you can find me on this blog if you want : https://erekiosuncreativeideas.tumblr.com/
> 
> Anyway, I hope everyone is fine and safe. Happy reading !

Being human was all about feeling things again, Snatcher knew this very well at this point. However, he has mostly experienced bad sensations, such as pain, discomfort, the strange taste and texture of food in his mouth, and having to go to the toilet again. Compared to this, actual good things seemed much less significant. It was a shame, since the ghost couldn’t deny that some experience had been enjoyable with that old body of his: sleeping was enjoyable, just lying down on his bed had been, too. Feeling the wind caressing his face, not feeling cold all the time anymore, being able to feel _warm_ after hundreds of years, smelling food or flowers once again, and experiencing the sense of touch for the first time in centuries. Being human had its pros and cons, even if the cons were more noticeable. Furthermore, the situation he was in didn’t let him appreciate those little things since his mind was focused on something very important: leaving this place as soon as possible.

So, when the shade opened the door of the bathroom, he felt like he had just hit his head against an invisible wall made of many scents. All of Snatcher’s senses were sharp and entering a room with so many toiletries, so many soaps or creams. The ghost’s acute sense of smell was instantly attacked by all the perfumes floating around in that cramped space. He squinted, feeling a headache coming by just how strong the scents where.

-“Oh, this is going to be awful, isn’t it…” he murmured to himself, forcing his legs to move forward. Warmness and humidity floated in the room along with the smells. The bathroom wasn’t very big, despite having been made for the royalty. A big bathtub was in front of him, adjacent to the wall, full of steaming water. The bathtub, just like the bathroom itself, had brown and dark green as the main colour scheme. The walls were beautifully textured and, at some places, had a wooden inlay. Just like he remembered.

Snatcher jumped when something moved in the corner of his vision. He almost facepalmed when it turned out to be his own reflection in the bathroom mirror. He stopped for a few seconds, looking at himself: apparently, humans could look even _deader_ than actual ghosts, good to know. His face was pale, and he had dark rings around his eyes. He had slept plenty the night before, though the day had been quite gruelling, both physically and emotionally speaking. The shade ran his hand through his hair as he sighed longly. Yeah, maybe a bath could be good for him, right now. He threw a last glance at his reflection before turning away. He didn’t want to undress while facing it. Being inside a human body was already disgusting as it was, he didn’t need to see himself naked even more than what he was forced to!

As he turned away, he noticed a pile of clean and elegant clothes on a small table near the sink. They were carefully folded, probably by Simeon. The thought made him anxious again. He didn’t know why, however, he couldn’t help but have a very bad feeling about the “butler”. What he had just seen earlier was quite revealing on the dangerous nature of this new opponent: the latter had been able to scare Vanessa so easily, and Snatcher was sure that it wasn’t an empty threat. Whoever was that guy, he was powerful enough to threaten Vanessa _and_ powerful enough to create a whole dimension himself. This was quite discouraging, to say the least. In this body, Snatcher clearly had no chance.

The ghost shook his head. He needed to think about a plan, not about how risky his situation was. Plus, he hated to think about it, but… he couldn’t forget the fact that he wasn’t alone: the kid was still on her spaceship. She was safer there than where he was, so, for now, the ghost only had to worry about himself.

Turning his back to the mirror, he started to undress. In the right pocket of his pants was the remote given by the hat-wearing brat. It was a bright yellow device with a huge red button in its centre. According to her, if he ever needed to flee or to come onto her spaceship, he would only need to press the button, and it would teleport him to her living room. Snatcher didn’t need to use it right now; however, this was a device he absolutely couldn’t allow himself to lose. He hid it in his used pile of clothes while reminding himself that he would have to take the remote with him before giving said clothes to the servants.

He put the pile on the ground and faced a shelf on which were stocked several soaps, shower gels, shampoos and creams. The ghost frowned, as he tried to remember which was which. Some were missing any label to tell the shade what was what, and he ended up using his memory to pick the good products. He wasn’t really sure but, hey, smelling good was the most important part, right? Plus, it’s not like he would be using this poor excuse of a body more than a few days, so having a wash was just a formality at this point.

He put the products on one of the edges of the bathtub and, slowly and cautiously, entered the bath, starting with the left leg. The instant the warm water touched his skin, Snatcher couldn’t help but get his leg out quickly. The hot temperature associated with his acute sense of touch… it was almost too much.

The ghost hesitated. Should he wait for the water to cool down? The idea of taking a cold bath didn’t tempt him very much, even less than a warm bath. After a few seconds debating with himself, Snatcher rolled his eyes: he had seen much worse than hot water! He was a ghost who had killed many people, for God’s sake!

Still unsure, the shade tried entering the bath again. The hardest part was to ignore his brain screaming at him to get out. The water wasn’t burning, the problem was completely different: Snatcher had forgotten what water felt around his skin, and the new sensation made him extremely uneasy. Plus, the pain in his legs was still there. However, he managed to stay calm and let his body sink under the water, slowly. He gradually let his muscles relax one after the other. With time, he was soon lying down in the bathtub, his head on the headrest behind him.

“ _Now what?_ ” he wondered, ill-at-ease. He knew what he had to do in theory, yes, but actually doing it was quite… awkward. Not only was he terribly uncomfortable at the idea of touching his own body meticulously, but the action felt so foreign to him as well. Even if he was able to stand up or move his arms without too much difficulty, doing precise gestures was… a little more complicated.

Snatcher carefully took one of the bottles of shower gels and poured some on his other hand, clumsily. A small portion of it fell in the water and the ghost sighed, irritated by his own heavy-handedness. He absolutely couldn’t wait to be back in his spectral form! At least, this one was easy to move around.

Washing himself after so many years without doing so was _definitely_ an experience to Snatcher. His movements were gauche, and he almost let the shampoo bottle fall in the water. Other than that, the feeling of warmness around him was… not bad, if he had to be completely honest. Yes, it had made him uneasy at first, but now that several minutes had passed, the shade felt _truly_ relaxed for the first time in days.

He rinsed his head and skin underwater, and eventually settled in the bathtub, letting his mind wandering around. The first thought that came to him was the “Simeon” problem. The shade had absolutely no idea about who that guy could be. But what was even harder to figure out was the stranger’s motives. What did he want? In what way could all of this benefit him at all? Snatcher didn’t know. He felt like there was some missing piece in his mind, and that he wouldn’t be able to understand anything without it.

The ghost was getting nowhere; he didn’t have enough information to try and guess who that “Simeon” could be. Though, he was certain of one thing: “Simeon” was only a disguise. There was no way the real Simeon could have helped Vanessa build this dimension, as the butler was dead in the present. So… it was only a mask, used to fool him and possibly Vanessa. From what he had heard before, he couldn’t be completely sure if she was aware of the stranger’s disguise or not. However, it was probable, as she wouldn’t have been scared of her own butler otherwise.

Snatcher let his head sink underwater as his mind was trying to come up with hypothesises, in vain. Maybe the kid would know more about what was going on? He supposed that she probably looked up for clues as well, along with fixing her spaceship.

When the ghost felt the need to breathe again, he got his head out of the water and sat down in the bathtub. How long had he been in the bathroom? There was no clock in the room, so there was no real way to know. However, judging from the wrinkles on the tip of his fingers, long enough to get out now.

Grabbing one of the nearby towels, the shade stood up and started wiping his wet body. The action was uncomfortable; not only getting out of the warm water made him feel cold suddenly, but the towel wasn’t really soft and scratched his skin. He quickly dried the rest of his body, wanting nothing more than for it to be over with.

The shade then grabbed the clean clothes and put them on, not without the usual clumsiness associated with his human body. He was now wearing an elegant dark purple shirt, decorated with golden embroidery on the collar. The shoulder pads were golden as well, from which were sewed many strings in the same colour. A long and graceful yellow cape came with it, and Snatcher put it on as well. He was also wearing dark brown skin-tight pants and black and golden boots.

Once fully dressed, the shade made sure to take the remote from his old clothes, this time hiding it in his left boot, against his calf. It was not a pleasant sensation, but it was the best hiding spot with this kind of apparel. He just hoped he wouldn’t press on the button by accident.

He came back to the mirror to do his head, and couldn’t help but be surprised at how much a bath could do to his face. He still looked tired, but at least it was less obvious. He looked so much better- less pale now. He supposed he really did need this bath, after all. And, even if he didn’t like to admit anything relatively positive on his human body, he couldn’t deny the fact that he was more handsome than usual, which was… a good thing? He didn’t know what to think of it, and most of his emotions were mixed feelings: pride, and irritation. In the end, it was hard for him to really think of this body as his. Sure, he recognized his reflection! But the whole situation was extremely weird and uncomfortable for him.

He was about to look away when, suddenly, the surface of the mirror turned completely black. It happened in a blink, and it instantly caught back Snatcher’s attention on it. The ghost’s knitted his brows, examining the surface with caution. What was that? The kid had never talked about that kind of thing!

The shade lifted his hand and, with hesitation, slowly put a finger against the cold surface. He was almost surprised to see that nothing seemed very much different, apart from the sudden non-reflective nature of the mirror. It didn’t reflect anything, as if someone had painted it black entirely. The texture was yet just as smooth as before, which was strange.

Snatcher stepped back, trying to find any explanation regarding that weird phenomenon. Yet, everything looked just as normal. Or, well, almost everything. When his eyes fell on the bath, still full of water, he noticed something very peculiar: the foam of the shower gel was not above the water like it should have been, floating on the surface. Instead, it was floating underneath the water level. This sight made the ghost pause, as if his brain was trying to decode something which was wrong in the first place... as if he was trying to explain an optical illusion. He simply couldn’t. All he knew was that it _wasn’t supposed to happen_.

-“What the…?” He turned around, trying to find new evidence of weirdness in his surroundings. Something else felt wrong, but, at first, nothing looked out of the ordinary. It took him a while to figure out what was bothering him, and yet it was _so obvious_ : his shadow on the ground didn’t correspond to his human one. It was his _spectral one_ , which had no legs.

The realization made him lose his balance, and he had to hold onto the sink not to fall down. What was happening? Was the rift already collapsing? The kid had told him they had several days left, _not a few hours_!

Snatcher’s breathing quickened, just like his heartbeat, while he looked all around himself, trying to look for any sign of danger. His eyes moved and examined every suspicious object. However, a few seconds passed without anything new happening. The ghost waited for a bit, trying to find anything unusual. He blinked and looked around, only to realize that things went back to normal.

Snatcher didn’t know how to react. His first reaction was to check on his shadow, in order to see if it was still his spectral one. It wasn’t anymore. Just the regular human one with legs. Behind him, the mirror was back to its previous state, showing the reflection of the room just like his.

The spirit looked just like he had seen a ghost. The thought made him laugh grudgingly as he ran his hand through his hair. It took him a moment to calm down. _Okay_. So the rift was doing unexpected things, just like the white cracks he had seen the day before, though these were apparently the brat’s doing. Was what just happened caused by the kid’s actions, too? He really hoped so, as the contrary could only mean one thing: the dimension was collapsing much quicker than what they had anticipated, and, in that case, they really needed to leave _right now_. The guy associated with Vanessa seemed to want him to stay there, though. Was he aware of the instability of the rift? If so, what was he trying to do? There were many faster ways to permanently make a ghost disappear! So why bother with a plot like this? It didn’t make any sense, but that wasn’t really new to Snatcher. Nothing made sense in that dimension.

He _had_ to find that Time Piece and bring it to the hat-wearing child.

Once he got his breathing under control again, he straightened up, looking at his reflection once more. Well, at least he looked more presentable now. His surroundings seemed to stay normal. Maybe it was just a false alarm? He hated to say it... even think about it, but… the ghost couldn’t help but wish for the kid to reassure him, as she was the only person able to explain what was going on to him. He quickly pushed away that thought from his mind. _Ha, good one_ , him wishing the child was there with him, _pshhh_. Damn human brain and human thoughts.

After a few minutes, the shade shook his head and pulled himself together. Now was not the time; he had things to do, especially that doctor appointment in his room. The sooner he would be able to walk without wincing, the better! And, in the middle of the night, he would try and look for the Time Piece in the manor.

He opened the bathroom door and left the room. He definitely had a lot in his plate.

The spirit walked back to his bedroom and, just to be sure, stick his ear on the door. However, no voices could be heard. He took a deep breath and opened the door.

A man was standing near the windows, looking at the outside with interest. He seemed to be in his late forties and had salt-and-pepper hair. He was wearing a long black coat and was holding a leather satchel. Said man turned towards Snatcher as he heard the door opening behind him.

-“Oh, Prince Alistel!” exclaimed the man, bowing with respect before continuing. “Excuse me for the intrusion. My name is Walter Gyfford. I’m the doctor you asked for.”

Snatcher suddenly realized he had a role to play and put a fake smile on his lips as he entered the room, closing the door behind him. He stepped forward to meet the doctor:

-“Oh, of course!” the shade replied with an insincere joy. He then pointed at himself. “Hum, do I need to undress?” What was the use of letting him new clothes if he had to take them off a few minutes later? The man smiled and shook his head as he let out a small laugh.

-“No, no, you don’t have to, I can heal your legs through your clothes.” The doctor then pointed to the bed with his hand. “Please sit on the bed, if that’s alright with you, your majesty.”

Snatcher _hated_ those names. He had nothing to do with royalty anymore, and really didn’t want to, anyway. Yet, he said nothing and kept his polite expression on his face, reluctantly sitting down on the mattress. He carefully took his boots off, doing his best not to press the button on the remote still hidden in his shoes. Snatcher had to stop himself from letting out a sigh of relief as he put the shoes aside.

The doctor kneeled in front of him, opening his satchel and taking out very different items, such as plants and crystals. It took him a while for him to settle everything down as he wanted, but eventually rose his head to meet Snatcher’s stare.

-“I’m sorry, it might hurt a bit, since it’s a serious injury. Tell me when you’re ready.”

Snatcher couldn’t help but laugh at the doctor’s attempt to reassure him. He had been _left to die in a cellar_! What could be more painful than that? No matter how painful something could be, he could take it at this point!

-“Don’t worry about me, I’m ready,” he flippantly replied, shaking his head, this time with a sincere smile painted on his lips. The doctor seemed hesitant at his answer, but simply nodded as he began to use his magic.

Snatcher didn’t think it would be _that p_ ainful. Maybe it only lasted a few minutes, but it lasted far, _far more_ to the ghost. Healing magic wasn’t so painful usually, though his situation wasn’t really _usual_ in itself. He could feel things moving in his legs as the doctor was trying to fix what was broken or just injured in general. Staying motionless was extremely hard, and he had to stop his body from _crying_ from how intense it was for him. It was _utterly humiliating_. The pain was so strong and made him want nothing more than just rip the guy’s throat open. _Fortunately for the latter_ , the pain started to fade the moment Snatcher seriously considered that option.

The doctor stepped back, his forehead sweating. His face clearly showed how uncomfortable he was at the moment.

-“Are you alright, my Prince?” asked the doctor, continuing in a more reassuring tone. “It’s over now. It won’t hurt anymore.”

Snatcher felt like he was being spoken to like a child, and he _loathed_ that. Though he had to push his pride aside to stay in character. God, he hated having to act like the dumb prince he used to be.

-“Thank you,” he still managed to say, gritting his teeth to gulp down all the threats that might come out of his mouth. He wanted to kill that man _so bad_ now. Luckily for the doctor, Snatcher was in no condition to do so, especially since he also needed to keep a low profile. But that didn’t prevent him from imagining himself doing so. It was _deeply enjoyable_.

Well, at least, his legs felt good for once, so he supposed that it was worth it. The doctor eventually stood up and bowed once again to him.

-“I’m sorry it was painful. Make sure to limit the physical efforts, and you’ll be perfectly fine!”

The spirit simply replied by a nod, as the doctor turned towards the door. No physical efforts? Well, this was going to be difficult with what he had in mind for the night, but he obviously kept that part for himself.

Just as the doctor was about to leave, he turned to Snatcher and spoke once again:

-“Oh, I almost forgot!” he said, raising his eyebrows as he continued. “Your butler tasked me to tell you that dinner will be ready soon.”

Snatcher’s heart sank in his chest as he suddenly realized that having his legs healed meant that he would have to eat outside of his bedroom. In the dining room. _With Vanessa_.

This day was never going to end, was it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this chapter was a little calm compared to the others, but it was needed for the story. The next chapter is going to be wild, don't worry :) I hope you still liked that chapter despite the lack of action !
> 
> As for when the next chapter will come out... It'll depend on the surprise, so if I'm not posting as fast as usual, please assume that I'm working on the fanfic in the meantime and/or on another AHIT fanfiction that I may or may not currently write. We'll see :)
> 
> Please stay safe everyone !


	14. “Don’t ever lie to me about you regretting something.”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Snatcher has a meaningful conversation with his ex-fiancee.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NEW CHAPTER, YOOOOO !!! Didn't see it coming, DID YOU ??? WELL HERE IT IS !!  
> Sorry for the long wait, I hope you'll like it ! At least, I had the time to work on plenty of next chapters (I finished writing the 18th chapter today, YEAAH). That way, you won't have to wait so much for the next chapters, as most of them are already written.
> 
> ALSO, this chapter has FOUR DRAWINGS ! FOUR !!!!!!  
> The first one is one I commissioned from my very good friend Puck ! SHE'S AN AMAZING ARTIST !!  
> A big thanks for Krekka, for the correction !
> 
> Happy reading !  
> You can find me on my writing/art blog if you want ! https://erekiosuncreativeideas.tumblr.com/

Snatcher found it extremely hard to find the courage to leave his room. After the doctor left, the ghost knew very well that he was expected on the ground floor. The very thought of having to deal with Vanessa and her accomplice when they fought the same day… it made him rightfully nervous. Furthermore, he had no idea what was waiting for him. If Vanessa was still angry at him (and she probably was), then there were chances that she would punish him in whatever way she could. Even though “Simeon” was apparently against it, for a reason he didn’t know yet, Snatcher couldn’t help but be wary. In his position, being prepared for anything was the best he could do. Maybe it was a trap. Who knew?

As the shade went down the stairs slowly, he remembered what happened in the bathroom. God, it had been terrifying. Snatcher wasn’t afraid of many things, but stuck in this fleshy body, that was a different story. For a moment, he had thought he was going to die, that the Time Rift was collapsing with him inside. Granted, it didn’t last long, and things seemed to have gotten back to normal. However, there was one thing that Snatcher couldn’t get out of his mind: his shadow, or, at least, what it had looked like.

It had looked like his spectral form. Why?

The question remained unanswered as he arrived on the ground floor, bracing up for whatever was going to happen. Maybe it would just be a simple dinner! Maybe he was just expecting the worst!

…who was he kidding? He knew Vanessa _too well_ to try to reassure himself like this. There was no way his ex hadn’t prepared something in retaliation for his earlier outburst. She really _was_ resentful. She was still mad at him for something _he didn’t even do_ , even _centuries_ later! Thus, he wasn’t really relaxed. How could he, when she had an even bigger reason to punish him?

The ghost soon arrived in front of the closed kitchen door. Vanessa was probably waiting for him there. Delicious smells seemed to pass through the door, one of them feeling more familiar than the others. Snatcher felt his mouth water at the thought of eating, but he knew better. While smells were _enjoyable,_ and while his body did need to eat, chewing food was _not_ a pleasant experience to the spirit. The tastes and the textures always felt weird on his tongue, and managing to swallow bits of food was often difficult. Then there was the whole digestion process, which felt _absolutely disgusting_ to him. Humans were so _gross_. Feeling things moving inside of him, hearing weird gurgling sounds coming from his own body… this was definitely something he wouldn’t miss.

Snatcher forced his mind to focus on the current situation and took a deep breath. He had to do this. This was his last chance to convince her; if it didn’t work, he was still going to search for the Time Piece at night in the manor. He was determined to get out of there, whether his ex liked it or not. That’s when he managed to push the door open, revealing the kitchen, plunged into darkness. Well, it wasn’t completely pitch black. On the dinner table, a few candles were lit up, enlightening their surroundings. The dining table was covered with a white tablecloth. On top of it, two place settings were put out, each on opposite ends of the table. Between them, there were a few cloches, probably keeping the food hot. White and pink flower petals were scattered around on the surface, while a flower vase was in the middle of the table, containing a bouquet of the same flowers, apparently. As soon as the ghost’s eyes fixed upon them, he found them _familiar_.

And finally, at one end of the table was Vanessa, waiting for him. She was wearing a beautiful red and black dress, and she was smiling brightly at him, something which made Snatcher even more uneasy than what he already was.

-“Oh, there you are, my dear!” said the Queen as she pointed to the opposite seat. “Why don’t you sit down?”

She was clearly acting as nothing had ever happened between them. Her smile was obviously fake and there was this whole… staging. What was she trying to create, a _romantic setting_? What a _joke_! The ghost frowned at the thought, trying his best to remain as stoic as he could. He wanted nothing more than just turn around and go back to his room. What was the point of all _this_ other than making him terribly uncomfortable? Though, when he saw Vanessa’s smile waver at his hesitation, he understood quite well that she wasn’t simply asking him to sit down. It was an order.

With extreme reluctance, the shade moved to the opposite end of the table and took a seat. The Queen’s smile widened at his compliance. It made him _sick_.

Snatcher pointed to the table, already annoyed with Vanessa’s attitude.

-“What’s all this?” he asked, glaring at her.

The woman ignored his hostility, resting her head on her joined hands, smiling mischievously.

-“What do you mean?” she retorted, faking ignorance. Oh, this was just making Snatcher _angrier._ G _reat_. So _that_ was the game she wanted to play? Pushing his patience until he _lost_ It? He didn’t have his powers anymore, though the urge to retaliate physically was becoming stronger and stronger. Of course, he knew better. In this state, he had zero chance against her. _Unfortunately_.

-“You know exactly what I’m talking about, _Vanessa_ ,” countered the spirit, pronouncing her name as if it was poison on his lips. Well, it wasn’t that far from the truth, considering how much she poisoned his entire life and afterlife combined. Apparently, she disliked his tone, and her malicious expression wavered for a brief moment. If she wanted to play that game, _Snatcher would as well_. And _oh_ , he _was_ good at playing that kind of game. There was a pause, both of them looking at each other defiantly. Snatcher thought he was doing quite a good job at being intimidating, yet he had a moment of weakness when his ex snickered.

-“Oh, you’re so cute when you’re angry,” Vanessa teased.

-“ _What_?”

The comment made Snatcher shudder with disgust and surprise. He could feel his whole body tensing up, confusion replacing most of his emotions. _What_ did she just say? His disarray was soon intensified as Vanessa started laughing louder, covering her mouth, eyes shut.

-“You should have seen your face!”

The ghost remained shocked for a moment, not knowing how to react. Did she just… _laugh_ at him? He frowned as his annoyance quickly came back full force. He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, trying his best to stay calm despite her attempts to peeve him. The spirit was stronger than that. He had to deal with a brat for _days_! A child who had managed to _hurt_ him when he was supposed to be _invincible_!

Vanessa was more dangerous, yes, but she was certainly less annoying than a certain hat-wearing kid he knew quite well.

The ghost took a long breath. He could do this. He would just have to _ignore_ her until the diner was over. How hard could it be? And, once he would return to his room, he would just have to wait for the night to come to start looking for the Time Piece. It was easy! Or, at least, that was what he was thinking until he lifted up the closest cloche in front of him, revealing the food hidden inside. As soon as he did so, the familiar scent he had smelled earlier hit him suddenly, much stronger than before. Right in front of him was a plate full of bacon slices, cooked just how he loved it.

The spirit’s first reflex was to look at Vanessa, afraid of her reaction to it. Did one of the servants make a mistake again? Was it even possible to forget Vanessa’s outburst about it when it only had been one day? However, when the ghost couldn’t see any fury in the Queen’s eye, he couldn’t help but become confused once again. His eyes went from hers to the plate successively, as if he was demanding explanations silently. From her smug expression, he deduced that it couldn’t have been a mistake. She was the one who asked for this particular dish. But why, when she absolutely loathed it so much that she had even banished it from the entire manor? It didn’t make sense to the ghost.

And, as his mind was trying to think of any possible and logical justification for this, Vanessa’s smile widened as she clarified her intentions:

-“I thought that after our… _disagreement_ , I would bury the hatchet,” she offered, sighing as she stared at him a bit too much to Snatcher’s taste. She sighed happily and finally looked away, her smile slowly disappearing. “I’m sorry for earlier. I didn’t mean to shout at you.”

Snatcher froze the instant he heard her words. Vanessa, the immature and resentful Queen who had not hesitated to _murder_ an entire village for a stupid misunderstanding, had just apologized to him? This couldn’t be possible. She had just yelled at him an hour ago about her not having done anything wrong! And now she was _apologizing..._ for _shouting_ at him? The ghost knew he wanted her to have regrets and remorses, but… it didn’t feel _right_. He had wanted her to realize what she had done in the past, stop acting like everything she had ever done was the right thing to do. Of course, it certainly didn’t mean he would forgive her with just apologies, but it was still _something_ he wanted. For closure, perhaps? To feel better about what happened to Subcon? To make her _pay_? Probably a mix of all those things.

_Now_? Something was wrong and the spirit just _knew_ it. The romantic setting? His favourite dish? Vanessa being _nice_ to him? And especially _apologizing_? It was all so _perfect_ and… _fake_. As a liar himself, Snatcher knew _very well_ when he was lied to. This, right there, was the perfect example of a _poisonous_ and _dangerous_ lie.

The ghost frowned at the realization and glared at her. She was lying to him; she didn’t feel a single remorse for anything, whether it was about Subcon Village or what happened earlier. She was just _pretending_ to. Her face was showing a fake sadness and the spirit knew her too well to fall in that trap. When Vanessa used to be sad about something, her lips trembled, she couldn’t bear to look at him and she had trouble to breathe calmly. But now… her lips were just sealed close, unmoving, and she was throwing glances at him when she thought he wasn’t looking. As for her breathing, it was just the same as before.

Snatcher _knew_ it. He felt his anger growing stronger and stronger in consequence. _How dare she_? Was she only doing that because she had been told to? Did Simeon demand her to apologize to him? What was she even trying to do with this awful setting around them? Snatcher didn’t understand, yet he _did_ know that Vanessa usually never did anything without a reason.

-“You don’t mean it,” muttered the ghost with a low voice. “I don’t know what you’re trying to do right now, but don’t _ever_ lie to me about you regretting something. You _never_ did.”

Vanessa’s fake sadness disappeared as soon as the words left his lips. Annoyance appeared on her features as if a mask had been taken off her face. She visibly wasn’t pleased about the current events and shifted her posture to reflect her irritation. Crossing her arms onto her chest, she sighed loudly.

-“I’m _trying_ to be nice, _this_ is what I’m doing,” she explained, frustrated. “I’m doing my best to be the better person to put the past behind us, but you’re _not_ helping me.”

Snatcher couldn’t believe what he was hearing. This couldn’t be possible. No one could be that stupid or that entitled of themselves! But here she was, still talking about how she was the more mature of them!

-“I’m _sorry_?” retorted the shade, offended by her words. “ _You_ , the _better_ person? Are you sure about that?” His tone was becoming louder and louder as his hatred for his ex was coming from him.

Vanessa remained silent, glaring at him. The temperature of the room was dropping while the Queen was breathing slowly, probably in order to control herself. She never changed and surely wouldn’t even in _thousands_ of years.

The shade sneered, eventually laughing loudly, but it wasn’t completely sincere. He didn’t want to laugh because what was funny about all that? Yet, he couldn’t help it, completely ignoring the way his ex was looking at him. After what seemed like hours to him, he managed to stop, disregarding Vanessa’s exasperation simply because _he didn’t care anymore_.

There was absolutely _no way_ he would be able to convince her. He had planned to mention the weird glitches in reality, the way he had sort of taken back his old form for a brief moment, but _what was the point_? She wouldn’t hear any of it and, even worse, it would come to “Simeon”’s ears. The immature Queen was stuck in an unreal world, not wanting to realize that she had been in denial all this time. The last thing Snatcher wanted was to ruin his chances to get out of here.

If Vanessa wanted to stay there and die with the dimension, that was her problem, not his. At least, it would take care of his problem of _pest_ in Subcon Forest back to the present.

After making sure of sliding his chair noisily on the ground, the ghost stood up. He had _much better_ things to do than whatever this _farce_ was.

His action seemed to surprise Vanessa, as she straightened up, looking at him menacingly.

-“Where are you going?” she questioned before demanding with a more authoritative tone. “Sit back down this instant!”

Snatcher simply ignored her again, going towards the door. His body would have still liked to eat, but at the time, it wasn’t important to the spirit anymore. However, as he was about to reach the doorknob, he heard several things break behind him. He would have ignored it, if it wasn’t for the little voice telling him to turn around, just in case. He reluctantly obeyed his instincts, not without rolling his eyes in the process.

He wasn’t really surprised to see Vanessa, standing up next to the table, surrounded by cutlery and food on the floor. Apparently, she had been so furious and had thrown everything onto the floor. He gave her an unimpressed look, as he waited for whatever she wanted to tell him, crossing his arms. She probably didn’t react this way if it wasn’t to catch his attention back.

-“Why are you like this?” was came out of her mouth eventually, her voice weaker than before. The question took Snatcher aback, though he did his best not to show it.

-“You mean, reacting as I should in front of my murderer? Good question, let me think!” he retorted sarcastically.

-“Stop it! That’s exactly what I’m talking about!” His ex sat back on her chair, looking elsewhere. Somehow, her lips were trembling, and the spirit guessed that _finally_ , he was able to see _genuine_ sadness on her face. Too bad he didn’t care about her anymore and _hadn’t been for a long time_.

Silence fell between the two. The Queen rubbed her eyes while Snatcher leaned against the door, wanting nothing more than leave. However, he couldn’t deny that he felt a bit curious; if she really _was_ sad, then maybe he could manipulate her into telling him things he needed to know. Emotions made people act without thinking, and now was the perfect opportunity to try that with her. At least, she wasn’t trying to freeze him to death at the moment, so he had his chance.

-“Why are we here, Vanessa?” He guessed that being direct was his best shot, considering how “Simeon” tended to interrupt their conversations each time he was about to learn something new. He kept going, with a nicer tone, hoping he could exploit her current weakness with it. “You can’t reproach me from being mean when I don’t even know _why_ or _how_ I’m here in the first place.”

Well, he knew the “ _how_ ”, but he wasn’t going to reveal his means of getting out of this doomed dimension. He wasn’t _that_ stupid.

His ex seemed to hesitate, as if she was debating with herself. She was surely trying to come up with the pros and cons of confessing whatever she was hiding from him. Now was his chance to tip the scales in favour of his situation.

-“Something is wrong with this dimension, and I _know_ you’re aware of it. I have no idea how you managed to… recreate _everything_ from scratch, and, look it’s impressive, but we can’t stay here. If we do, we’re going to die, Vanessa.” He paused and added, “ _Permanently_.”

He _did_ know how this dimension came to be, but he wasn’t supposed to know that she wasn’t the one who created it, neither that “Simeon” was her accomplice. He had to be careful with his choice of words.

-“It… it _is_ real, Alistel,” she murmured, though Snatcher could tell she was unsure of her own words. She grabbed a fork on the ground and showed it to him, as it if was proving anything. “Look, I’m touching it! It’s… it’s here, in my hand, I can feel it!”

The shade tried not to wince when she called him by his _old_ name, faking an expression of compassion instead. He _needed_ her to understand. No matter how much he _hated_ her, how much he wanted her to _pay_ for what she had done to Subcon and all its inhabitants, it was better to have Vanessa on his side against an enemy he knew _nothing_ about.

-“I know you don’t want to believe me, but, _please_ , just once, _trust me_.”

“ _It would make a nice change for once…_ ” he thought to himself, as he watched her resolve crumple little by little while she listened to him and to what he was insinuating. Her fists were clenching her dress strongly, her body shaking from the emotion. Tears were coming to her blue eyes. This was _it_. _This_ was the moment he was waiting for.

-“I know your heart is in the right place,” he said, offering his hand to her right after. “Please help me get us out of here, Vanessa.”

He waited for her to accept his plan, to stand up and take his hand, telling him where was the Time Piece and especially _who_ was the one impersonating Simeon. But she didn’t. All she did was sniff, wiping her tears with the back of her hands. When her eyes fixed upon him once again, they weren’t full of hope or sadness like Snatcher hoped. They were full of _rage_.

-“You just want to leave me again, don’t you?” she accused with a dark tone. Snatcher couldn’t help but grow pale when he realized that things were turning _completely different_ than what he had expected. This was bad, he had to fix it before it turned worse!

-“No!” he replied, though it was a complete lie; leaving without his so-called _soulmate_ , he absolutely didn’t mind doing so. But of course, saying that would be suicidal.

-“Liar!” screamed Vanessa, while the temperature dropped once again. Ice started to spread around her from her feet, engulfing whatever it met. “You’re lying so I can help you leave me once again!”

Well, she had completely seen right through him. He opened his mouth again, wanting to justify himself, try to defend his plan even if it was already too late, but she cut him short by another yell, louder than the first one:

-“Get out! Get out!” she shouted, putting her head into her hands as sobs could be heard through them. “I don’t want to see you anymore, get out of here!”

Her last sentence broke as she started to cry even more.

Snatcher stayed still a few seconds, staring at her. He didn’t feel guilty, not after everything that had happened. He hated her too much to feel anything positive about her, even if hundreds of years had passed since then. Seeing her crying should make him happy; however, it wasn’t the right time.

Snatcher had a Time Piece to find. If she couldn’t help him, then… she might die all alone and painfully, and he wouldn't even care the slightest. She _deserved_ that. That was what he thought, as he finally grabbed the door handle, opening the door without saying anything.

This was a farewell then.

“ _Good,_ ” thought Snatcher darkly as he left the room, listening to her cries like a pleasant melody he would remember for a long time, until he couldn’t hear them anymore, too far away.

The way back to his room was silent. He bumped into a few servants on the way to his room, ignoring them when they bowed to him. None of this was real. Why should he bother playing Vanessa’s game when he was so close to being saved?

He got back to his room quite fast, even if he couldn’t help but be paranoïd all the way. After his argument with Vanessa, he had all the reasons to believe something bad was going to happen to him. But nothing did, which was a bit too suspect for Snatcher’s taste. When he opened the door, he tried to be extremely careful, just in case “someone” was hidden in his bedroom. But, once again, nothing unusual.

This was _too_ calm.

The ghost made a few steps inside and closed the door behind him. He sighed. Well, all he had to do now was to wait a few hours and leave his room to start the search for the time artefact. But, before he was even able to sit on the bed, the spirit heard something from behind him:

**_Click!_ **

Someone had locked the door, trapping him inside the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WELP. I'M GOOD WITH CLIFFHANGERS, AREN'T I ? Don't worry, you won't have to wait too long.  
> I hope you liked this chapter ! Thank you for your patience and all your support, it means so much to me !
> 
> See you on the next chapter and stay safe !


	15. “WAKEY WAKEY KID!”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Snatcher finds a way out of his troublesome situation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEEEEY, IT'S ME AGAIN ! BET YOU DIDN'T EXPECT A CHAPTER SO SOON ?  
> Well, I didn't want to leave you guys on the previous cliffhanger for too long, so here's the next chapter, which is almost the longest one ! It's ten pages long !
> 
> I hope you'll like this chapter !! If you do, don't hesitate to leave me a comment, as it really helps me reassure me !  
> If you want to see my art and how the writing is going, you can go on my blog : https://erekiosuncreativeideas.tumblr.com/  
> (also I opened art commissions, so if you're interested...)
> 
> Anyway, happy reading !
> 
> EDIT : added a voice acting from a good friend of mine !

Snatcher looked at the door, astonished by what had just happened: someone locked him inside his room. He couldn’t help but stare at the doorknob until he was able to pull himself together. Putting his hand back on the knob once again, he tried to turn it, in vain.

There weren’t many hypothesises on the culprit, at this point… Either Vanessa had asked a servant to lock him up after the diner, or “Simeon” had heard their argument and had decided to take the matter in his own hands. Instinctively, the latter theory seemed more credible at the moment: after all, Vanessa seemed to have wanted to be “forgiven”, even if it wasn’t real. Her accomplice, on the other hand, apparently was someone who liked to work in the dark. When the ghost had listened to their conversation, the mastermind had expressed his bitterness about Snatcher having discovered his existence…

The spirit gritted his teeth and punched the door several times, not liking where this was going at all.

-“ _Hey_!” he roared, with a very authoritative and _furious_ tone, his breathing quickening as he spoke: “Reopen this door _immediately_!”

Snatcher then stuck his left ear against the wooden frame of the door, trying to catch any noise behind it. It lasted for a few seconds until the shade started to hear footsteps slowly moving away from him. Whoever was behind that door, whether it was “Simeon” or any other stupid servant listening to him, Snatcher was ready to murder them, _painfully_ ideally. Well, supposing this door wasn’t _in his way of doing so_.

He hammered the door once more, faster and louder than before, feeling his rage increasing as he heard the person moving away.

-“Open this door, or I swear _I’ll make you_! I won’t repeat myself!” He threatened, hoping to be convincing enough if he was menacing a servant. However, there was no reply to his order. Instead, the steps slowly faded, no matter how hard the spirit pounded on the door. The steps had been calm, slow-paced, as if the person behind the door expected this reaction out of him and wasn’t afraid of the consequences of his actions. Snatcher realized he was right in his previous hypothesises: “Simeon” was probably responsible.

-“I’m going to kill him… I’m _so_ going to kill this guy, whoever he _thinks_ he is to mess with me…” muttered Snatcher, gritting his teeth even tighter. His hands hurt from the hits on the door and, when he finally looked at them, he noticed how red his skin had turned. His attempts to bend his fingers only resulted in pain and he quickly stopped moving them. Pain was certainly not a human experience he would miss.

“ _Now what?_ ” he wondered, looking back at the room behind him. It was just like he left it… Or so he thought, until he noticed that something at the window seemed _off_. The ghost frowned and got closer, trying to see what had seemed weird to his brain. It is only when his eyes fell on the lock of the window that he understood why it had felt different to him: there was a black padlock on it. “Someone” must have come into his bedroom while he was talking with Vanessa and locked his window. Did “Simeon” guess his intent before he even got the chance to put his plan into motion? Or did the butler act “just in case”? Whatever was the reason, it seriously put Snatcher’s intentions to a stop, at least, unless he figured a way out of this room.

Now quite hesitant about what to do in a situation like this, the spirit looked around him, hoping to find any new idea to leave this room. His eyes fell on the desk and chair near the door: _sure_ , he could break the window with the chair, but he wanted to leave discreetly. This would _not_ be discreet.

Just as he was about to make a few steps in the room to look for more ideas, he felt something in his boot. Then, it hit him like a train: the brat’s remote! Of course! That was his way out of here!

The spirit almost facepalmed: how could he have not thought about it in the first place? He hid it so well that _he_ even forgot about its existence! Without losing any more time, the shade squatted down to take it out of his shoe, careful not to do anything wrong with it. He certainly didn’t want to break it by dropping it on the floor or press any button that should never be pressed under any circumstances… It was a wonder Snatcher didn’t press any button on accident while it was hidden in his boot.

The device was intact and functional. A small green light was blinking repeatedly on the yellow surface, indicating that the remote was on. The red button on its centre was surely the one that needed to be pressed. Well, that was what the shade supposed since he knew nothing about technology. Isolated from the outside world, Snatcher knew very little of what had been invented since his death, only learning about it from his victims, either dead or alive.

Well, what was life without its usual risks? After everything he had been through, one more dangerous situation didn’t make much of a difference… And so, shutting his eyes tightly, the ghost pressed the button and braced himself for what was to come.

Just like he expected, teleportation was still not something he enjoyed. It felt like the floor underneath his feet had just disappeared, making him fall in an empty white void. It didn’t last long, though in the few seconds he had to endure this awful this process, he could feel his own body disappearing, only to be replaced by something else, something he was _much more_ familiar with. It was a very strange and horrible sensation to experience and, once again, he couldn’t help but wonder how could the hat-wearing child endure a process like that so often. He hated it _so much_. No matter how much he would need to go through teleportation, he would _never_ get used to it.

His vision came back to him in a blink, once he fully materialized in the ship. Remembering the meeting between his face and the floor when he first teleported onto the kid’s spaceship, the spirit made sure to start levitating as soon as he felt his spectral body again. That was apparently the right thing to do, as his ghostly face almost hit the floor again.

No, he would absolutely _never_ get used to it.

Snatcher quickly came back to reality, and checked his own body, just to be sure. Just like he expected, he saw his spectral form instead of his fleshy body, which was quite a relief. He had been back in that inconvenient vessel for a few hours only and he was already glad to be back in his usual form. God, it felt so good not to have legs! He could float again, just like he used to! He then took a look at his surroundings, wanting to know if the teleportation had worked well. As soon as his eyes scanned the room, he felt a wave of relief engulfing him again when he recognized the kid’s living room. Everything had worked just as planned! _Finally_ something good in his current situation!

Just like the last time he came here, the lights were all out. The only thing lightening the room was a Time Piece set on the ground, next to the control station. This hourglass was probably one the kid had gotten out of her safe. How many did she have anyway?

A few steps away from it, a silhouette was lying on the ground, their head burrowed in a light blue pillow. Snatcher didn’t need much more to recognize the hat-wearing brat. Suddenly, an unknown feeling rose inside of him at the sight of the child, who still hadn’t noticed his arrival on her ship. Was he worried about her? The realization hit him like a train and he felt his inexistent guts twist at the thought. “ _Hah, as if!_ ”, he mumbled internally, as he could only float towards the brat, apparently oblivious to what was happening in the same room as her. Was she asleep? _On the ground_? But she had a bed!

Once Snatcher got close enough of the small body lying on the ground, he caught sight of several objects scattered all around her. Two books were next to her, one of them opened, displaying a language the spirit was not able to read. A few tools could be seen, such as a screwdriver, a monkey wrench as well as a wire cutter. Her hat was not on her head and was simply waiting for her, not very far away. Several cookies were disseminated near her head and the kid was holding one she hadn’t finished eating, probably falling asleep before she got the chance to, from the look of it.

The control panel had been fixed… _Somewhat_. Inside it, a few wires had been reconnected with adhesive tape, while other wires still waited to be fixed. On the yellow surface of the machine, the hosepipes had been reconnected to the mainframe using the same method.

The kid herself, just like he thought, was sleeping soundly. Her breathing was calm, slow and repetitive as her body moved up and down. Some locks of hair were touching her face, yet she seemed too asleep to care. Without thinking, the ghost came closer and suddenly realized what he was doing. Was he watching a child sleeping? How _creepy_ was that?! He _was_ supposed to be creepy, yes, but _not that way_! The ghost straightened up immediately, looking away, ruffled by his behaviour. _That_ did not happen.

A high pitched noise on his right caught his attention and he turned his head to the sound. His yellow eyes instantly fell on the brat’s little vacuum cleaner, which seemed to stare at him with its awful pink eyes. It made happy-like sounds to him and Snatcher only frowned in response. _Great_. Now there was a _witness_. Sentient or not, it still bothered Snatcher and he had to force himself not to destroy the brat’s stuff on impulse. Not that he _didn’t want_ to, but he just _knew_ that he wouldn’t hear the end of it if he did. Plus, the ghost had many important things to do and, for them to happen, he had to wake the kid up.

The shade floated back down and took a deep breath he didn’t need… Before yelling, right above her ear:

-“ **WAKEY WAKEY KID!** ” his voice echoed in the living room, making both the child and her vacuum cleaner jump from the surprise and from how loud it was. The little girl let out a scared shriek and quickly got away from him, crawling on her back. The latter hit the machine behind her and, when it did, she appeared both confused and terrified at the same time, tears appearing in her eyes. They went from all their surroundings to him in successions, as if she was trying to understand what had happened. What a _great_ sight for the shade, who enjoyed this prank profusely. It took her a couple of seconds until she seemed to get what the shade did and a furious expression replaced the confusion on her features.

-“Why would you do that?!” was the first thing leaving her mouth, as she stood up, anger clearly visible in her gestures. Her fists were clenched and she glared at the shade with a rage that was quite unusual for her. Though, to Snatcher, it was a pleasure to look at, especially after the rough evening he had.

-“ _Aaaw_ , did I _scare_ you?” he taunted, his mischievous smile widening at her anger. The girl pouted and quickly squatted down to pick up her monkey wrench, throwing it at the ghost, before doing the same with the screwdriver. The spirit avoided them easily and laughed maniacally at her attempts to hurt him.

-“Did you _forget_? You can’t _hurt_ me like that! I thought you knew bet-”

He stopped talking when a loud sniffing sound interrupted him. The spirit froze and he stared at the child, as he noticed that she didn’t act like usual. Normally, she would fight back, try to insult him and even turn him blue if she had the chance to. Now… She was just standing, motionless, right in front of him, her head bowed down. Another sniffing sound came from her, breaking the silence that had fallen between the two. The child’s shoulders were trembling, just like her clenched fists.

“ _What the…_ ” wondered Snatcher, stopping his thoughts when he _understood_.

The hat-wearing brat was _crying_. He could hear her sobbing, just like he could see tears rolling down her face. The shade couldn’t help but stare at her, not knowing what to do. This was not what he had in mind. Sure, he had expected her to be angry, but _crying_? This was new and probably _not good_. Usually, he felt happy when he made someone cry. Seeing them sobbing right in front of him, praying for their life to be spared, just before he killed them gruesomely… That was fun! However, in that particular situation, Snatcher wasn’t enjoying it, for a reason he couldn’t explain yet.

He lifted his right hand as he tried to catch the little girl’s attention once again:

-“Hey kiddo… You okay over there?” He paused, waiting for her to answer, in vain. He tried again, this time coming closer, using a tone he hoped casual (despite being very much _not_ casual): “I thought you were a strong kid! Why are you crying for something this dumb?”

Somehow, the spirit felt like he had crossed a line but it was already too late. The child rose her head, glaring at him with blue eyes full of tears. Her teeth were clenched and her breathing seemed to be harder and harder to control. And, just like Snatcher feared, she snapped at him:

-“Are you _serious_?” she roared, stomping her left foot on the ground as she kept going, her voice breaking as the words left her lips: “I… I don’t _need_ this right now!”

The kid pointed to their surroundings, absolutely livid:

-“Do you have _any idea_ how hard it is to fix a ship like that?” she questioned. Snatcher opened his mouth to answer but she cut him short, visibly not wanting to listen to him in any case: “no, you _don’t_! _I_ know! _I’m_ the one who just spent a whole night not sleeping to try to fix something, _anything_! But nothing is working and I don’t know what to do anymore!”

The ghost tried to interject once more, only to be silenced as the kid continued, even more furious than before:

-“I’m not _finished_!” fumed the hat-wearing child: “I’m trying _everything_ I can to _at least_ fix the power so I don’t end up _suffocating_ in the next few days, but I _can’t_! And the moment I finally fall asleep which, _by the way_ , wasn’t _intentional_ , I get woken up by a _pecking ghost_ who has _no idea_ what I’m going through!”

Her yells faded out as she stopped to breathe again, still glaring at the spirit in the process. Silence fell once again as Snatcher didn’t know if he could reply now. He was staring at the child, bewildered at her outburst. She had never acted like this in the past, even when she kept “dying” in his advanced contracts. But, now that he thought about it, she did seem pretty tired. She had dark rings under her eyes and her posture was the one of someone who would fall asleep anytime. Now, all the junk on the ground made much more sense to the shade, as he finally put the pieces together: she had spent hours trying to fix her ship, in vain, only falling asleep because she was completely exhausted. And Snatcher came here, only to wake her up violently when her mind was probably a mess at the moment.

A very unpleasant feeling of guilt rose inside of him, as he remained silent. He felt like apologizing was his best chance of ending the argument, but… Snatcher _didn’t apologize_. Yet, he couldn’t deny the need to do so. The only thing preventing him from doing it was his prideful personality. The kid seemed to guess his thoughts as she rolled her eyes, picking up her hat as she grunted:

-“Don’t bother, I don’t _care_.”

The shade was about to retort when he realized something. She had mentioned staying awake for a whole night? But he thought time moved slower in her spaceship!

-“Wait kiddo, how many hours has it been for you since we last saw each other?”

She looked up, staring into space, visibly even more tired than before:

-“Uh… Almost a day for me, only a few hours for you, I think.”

-“But… I thought time was supposed to move slower here? Did I miss something or…?” he asked confused, though quite relieved at the change of subject.

The hat-wearing child pointed to the mainframe, to which a Time Piece was (poorly) connected:

-“I tried to align our “ _time zones_ ” but… All I managed to do was reversing the effect and worsening it as I tried to fix it,” she explained, taking a deep breath as she continued, extremely tensed: “now, I only have a few hours left until my oxygen supplies start to be low enough to make me sick. Suffocation will come next, in a few days.”

Snatcher could only stare back as he listened to her words. Normally, hearing about someone suffocating would morbidly catch his interest, but… In this case, it felt _wrong_. He understood with _horror_ that he didn’t want her to die like this, or die _at all_. What was happening to him? He was a _monster_ , killing people and eating their souls! He made his victims suffer in very diverse ways before murdering them _painfully_! And now he felt _worried_ for a child? This was ridiculous! Yet, the feeling was there and he couldn’t deny it.

The shade examined the mainframe, which _was_ in a very poor condition. He knew the kid had an engine room and he couldn’t even imagine how much _worse_ it could be compared to what was in front of him. And from what she had been telling him, she didn’t have the tools to fix any of it, which only made the spirit even more anxious. He felt the need to change the subject, hoping the status of the rift was not as bad as _everything else_.

-“What about the rift?” questioned Snatcher, praying silently for some good news, at least: “how many days have we left?”

The kid pinched her nose, exhaling loudly. She then rubbed her tired eyes, looking up at Snatcher as she replied:

-“It’s worse than what I first thought.”

If Snatcher didn’t want to anger her more, he would have facepalmed twice. It was as if the world was trying to persecute them more and more, always finding more twisted ways to make them suffer! Was it his karma coming back at him for all the wrong things he had done after his death?

The brat guessed his thoughts despite him trying his best to keep an impassive face:

-“Let me explain before snapping at me like last time, okay?” she commented. It was weird to hear her saying “last time” when, for Snatcher, it had only been a few hours since then. But time had been distorted between them. And even if he _did_ want to yell, he couldn’t deny how much exasperated the kid seemed to be: usually, she would put up with his behaviour, but the spirit had a feeling she would not be as patient right now, and, well, time was running out. Thus, he managed to put his pride aside for a bit and only nodded, not wanting to infuriate her more.

The child seemed briefly relieved at his attitude and elaborated:

-“This time rift isn’t _supposed_ to exist. Time rifts are a part of space-time shenanigans but, as I told you yesterday, this rift is _artificial_. And both time and space _hate_ that, and they’re trying to destroy it to, uh, restore the balance of space-time, if that makes sense to you.”

It did _not_ make sense to Snatcher. Well, he still got the idea but he couldn’t understand why the reality was trying to make them disappear. Could it really tell the difference between a “wild” time rift and one that was not? The shade decided to keep his interrogations to himself, not wanting the kid to spend hours to explain things that were too complicated for him. It was just _abstract_. Law, on the other hand, was not.

Seeing his silence as a sign to continue, the hat-wearing child enunciated more information about their current situation:

-“So, as I was saying, this time rift is abnormal and the universe is trying to crush it. The thing is, it does that little by little. Have you noticed strange things while you were down there?” asked the little girl.

Snatcher remembered his experience in the bathroom. The mirror had become completely black, not reflecting anything anymore, and his shadow had taken the form of his spectral body. He had wondered at the time if the rift was collapsing and, now that he got explanations, it all made much more sense. So it was _just_ collapsing very slowly. _Good to know_.

Snatcher kept his sarcasm to himself and answered his small ex-contractor:

-“I have. Things started disappearing and reappearing very quickly around me. And some surfaces lost their reflections too. My shadow looked like my usual spectral one, too.”

The kid nodded, not surprised by his reply.

-“Yeah. The rift is having trouble keeping everything together. Stuff like reflections, shadows, small objects… The rift is trying to resist by making less effort on materializing unnecessary things, those that won’t cause much trouble if they stop existing.”

-“Wait, you mean that shadows and reflections aren’t _necessary_?” asked the ghost, a little confused.

-“Well, yeah? I mean, it’s not like you’re going to _die_ if you don’t have a reflection anymore,” explained the child: “However, having all water disappear from the rift might be problematic, so, uh… Just imagine that the rift has _priorities_ , okay?”

-“You say that as if it’s sentient.”

The kid rubbed her face again, sighing:

-“No, it’s not, it’s just… Ugh, it’s too hard to explain! It just… Acts on instinct? It just wants not to explode.”

Snatcher wasn’t convinced, though he felt that the kid didn’t want to explain things further on that topic. Then, it was time to move on another subject:

-“So, if the time rift is going to collapse soon, and if the lack of oxygen is going to kill you…” started the shade, hoping to get more information about what they would have to do: “we need to find that Time Piece, and the sooner, the better. Right?”

-“Right. We need to go now-”

However, a noise interrupted her, making both her and Snatcher jump from the surprise. It sounded like… _Growls_? The ghost looked around him, on the lookout for any dangerous foe hidden in the kid’s ship. However, when the growls echoed in the living room once more, he felt… Something _moving_ in his inexistent stomach. Was he… _Hungry_? The shade lowered his gaze to his body, more than astonished. The little girl was showing the same surprise as him, not expecting that kind of sound coming out of him either.

Him being _hungry_ it that form… That couldn’t be possible!

His confused and nervous expression was soon picked up by the child, who apparently decided it was the time to make fun of him:

-“Well, looks like _someone_ ’s hungry~!” she nagged, giggling when he replied by glaring at her silently. Well, in a way, he _did_ deserve it, he supposed. Plus, he _was_ feeling hungry. After all, his human body hadn’t eaten for a while, yet… He was no longer in this useless vessel now, so _why_ was he experiencing something like that?

-“How is it even possible?” snarled Snatcher: “I don’t even _have_ a stomach!”

To this, the kid hazarded a guess, gently tapping her lips as she spoke:

-“Well, I may have an idea about that. You said the rift messed up your shadow, right?”

The ghost lifted his spectral brows, sceptic:

-“Yeah, but what does it have to do with me being hungry when I _shouldn’t_ be?”

-“What if you never really became a human in the first place?”

The question took the shade aback, cutting his thoughts short. The spirit frowned, not really understanding what she had implied:

-“What do you mean?” he asked the brat, who was staring into space as she developed a theory:

-“I’ve been thinking about it since the issue with your hand yesterday-, uh, I mean, a few hours ago for you. You being hurt _was_ weird, since you should normally be invincible in your usual form. So, I wondered… You know how the rift is only an illusion? How everything was made from scratch?”

Snatcher really didn’t like where this was going. It was a bit too abstract for him, after all. But he kind of knew what the kid was implying and _he didn’t like it_.

-“Yeah?” he answered in a wary tone.

-“What if… Your human body is just a _disguise_ you’re forced to wear? Like, maybe the rift is forcing your appearance to change?”

-“Why _would_ it? And… That doesn’t explain why my hand was hurt or why I’m being hungry right now!” retorted Snatcher, feeling more and more lost as the kid continued her explanations.

-“Well… The rift might be manipulated by the one possessing the Time Piece. That would explain why it gave you this appearance in a world that _isn’t even your past_ , only a _copy_ of it,” she recited, pensive: “When you think about it, it just makes sense: _why_ would you look like your human self in a Time Rift that is not _actually_ linked to your past originally? It _has_ to be intentional. As for why you feel human stuff right now… Maybe the rift is changing your body even on the _inside_?”

The ghost was truly _horrified_ by what he was hearing. His form, being changed _more_ than its appearance? This very idea made him terribly uneasy and sick to his - _supposedly_ \- inexistent stomach. It felt like his body was being violated by something, _someone_ especially. “Simeon”’s face came to his mind as soon as he thought about it. Instantly, pure rage grew inside of him. Snatcher was _sure_ that the rift itself was not the culprit he was looking for, but the butler, on the other hand… _It just made sense_. He felt his clenched fists warming up as his magic started to manifest through them, until blue flames appeared all around them, up to his wrists. As for his hair, it became pointier and pointier as he remembered the butler’s face and what the brat had just told him.

So _that guy_ thought he could mess with him? Snatcher would show him what he was capable of!

But if his human vessel had always been a _forced_ disguise… What about _Vanessa_?

-“Snatcher?”

The little girl’s worried voice interrupted his thoughts as well as his increasing rage. She was holding both of her hands together against her chest, staring at him with eyes full of anxiousness. _Right_. She knew nothing about what the spirit had found back in the rift, thus her confusion made perfect sense.

The shade did his best to calm himself down. The last thing he wanted to do was to lose control of his powers and blast a laser through the walls of the spaceship. The possibility of what could happen if he did so didn’t appeal to him very much… The ghost took a deep breath and felt his anger waning, just like the magic around his hands, eventually disappearing too.

Snatcher then started to tell the kid what he had discovered while he was in the rift, as well as Vanessa’s denial on the matter. The kid seemed surprised to learn that the mastermind had chosen to take the form of someone close to Vanessa and him. But, in a way, what was a better camouflage than taking the butler’s form? Snatcher would have never suspected him seriously if he hadn’t witnessed Vanessa’s reaction to that guy being in the same room as her earlier that day.

The brat became pensive again, rubbing her chin as she tried to process everything the ghost had told her. After all, it _was_ a lot of information. She then opened her mouth to talk, only to be cut short again by another growl from the spirit. Instinctively, the shade hid his _stomach_ , ashamed of the sound. He hated it when his human body did things on its own, and now his spectral one was doing the same? It was extremely frustrating at the very least… Even more so when the hat-wearing child giggled at his reaction. It contrasted a lot with her previous tired expression which, as much as the ghost wanted to deny it, made him feel _a little_ better. Only a little bit.

-“Well,” laughed the kid: “I was about to say that we might want to start looking for the Time Piece now, but… Maybe you need to eat first? How do you feel about cookies?”

Snatcher had never been so _humiliated_ in his entire life and after-life. However, his body seemed very much enthusiastic at the idea of eating. The ghost, now utterly resigned to do what had to be done, had no other choice but to accept the girl’s offer. And, as much as his body wanted to eat, Snatcher did _not_. Food and its texture were just _awful_.

It was even worse when it came to _cookies_. Those didn’t remind him of good memories _at all_.

-“Okay, fine, but _not cookies_!”

The child only beamed at him in answer. He didn’t get the chance to add anything else as she was already running towards the kitchen, climbing on top of the first floor easily, just like usual.

This was going to be _long_ and _awful_ , he just knew it… But if everything went well after that, they would be out of there in no time! How _hard_ could that be?

As much as he wanted to be optimistic, the ghost couldn’t help but have a very bad feeling about this…

[Erekio](https://soundcloud.com/valerianne-feuillet) · [Hat Kid's Rant](https://soundcloud.com/valerianne-feuillet/hat-kids-rant)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, no cliffhanger this time ! Phew !  
> I hope you liked this chapter ! Don't hesitate to tell me if you did, it helps a lot, I can assure you !
> 
> See you soon on the next chapter ! Stay safe everyone !


	16. “Wait… Wait, wait, wait, no-”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Snatcher and Hat Kid's search for the Time Piece begins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter ! Since I was able to start writing the 19th chapter, which has been very hard to begin, I decided to post the 16th chapter. I hope you'll like it !  
> Don't hesitate to leave a comment if you did ! You have no idea how much it helps me writing !
> 
> Also, just wanted to announce that I commissioned something for the 18th chapter! And it's not a drawing. I sure wonder what it might be :)) I can't wait to post it with said chapter !
> 
> If you want to see more of my art or what's happening in the backstage, you can go here : https://erekiosuncreativeideas.tumblr.com/
> 
> Happy reading !!

Just like Snatcher had expected, eating food even under his ghostly form was not an enjoyable experience. It was still better because he didn’t get to feel textures as much as when he was as a human. Though, the sense of touch still lingered a little bit. Normally, the ghost shouldn’t feel anything but, with the recent events… A lot of things had changed. Thus, when the little kid fed him a lot of stuff he knew nothing about, mostly sweets and junk food, the spirit had to resist the urge of throwing up from disgust. _Gagging_ was something he never knew he could do as a ghost but, hey, you learn something new every day! Fortunately, the shade had managed to eat everything the kid had given him until he felt full enough. He still had no idea how being hungry was possible in his state, though it might very well be because of “Simeon”, just like the hat-wearing brat had explained it to him. Whatever that guy did with that Time Piece, it had changed the way Snatcher’s spectral body worked. And that was absolutely _unacceptable_ for the shade, who loathed whoever or _whatever_ was hiding behind Simeon’s identity. Yet, he couldn’t ignore how powerful they were, if they managed to create a whole dimension when even the _alien_ kid could _not_.

Once the eating torture was over, he and the child started to elaborate a plan. While the kid would be able to track and locate the Time Piece while in the manor (thanks to her sixth sense he supposed), Snatcher would be the one leading them to it. The shade knew that breaking into the manor wouldn’t be easy with all the guards and servants watching the place. Fortunately, he knew the mansion enough to know how to avoid being found.

The kid took a few things with her, especially most of her hats, as well as her usual umbrella, just in case. It was best for them to be prepared, even more considering how dangerous their mission was. As soon as they were ready, the brat teleported them down again, in the backyard of the mansion. Unsurprisingly, the process was still extremely agonizing to the ghost, who felt his body change once again. He _hated_ those sensations and hoped the return to the real dimension wasn’t going to be as uncomfortable.

As soon as they arrived in the rift, Snatcher couldn’t help but fall to the ground, nauseous. With his hand on his stomach, he had to take deep breaths in order not to throw up the food he had eaten earlier. He didn’t want to think about how illogical and _stupid_ it was for it to have been “transferred” to his human body. How was that even _possible_? He wasn’t even sure the kid could answer his interrogations. Speaking of her, she ran to his side as soon as she noticed his malaise, visibly worried.

-“Snatcher!” stammered the child, lifting her hand to rub his back before hesitating and eventually stopping. She seemed to understand that the ghost didn’t want to be touched and she was right. The last thing the shade needed at the moment was another sensation his brain couldn’t deal with! He wasn’t sure he could remain focused on not throwing up if he had to feel another contact.

It was always weird to come back into this body because he had to feel all those things again, the clothes against his skin, the air filling his lungs, the saliva pilling up in his mouth… Compared to his short experience back in his original body, it was quite different and the change was always weird to handle, at least for a little while. Next to him, the kid remained silent, watching him carefully. If he had to be honest, Snatcher was quite relieved and thankful she was keeping her mouth shut, as her voice would be another unwanted distraction. In the meantime, the spirit continued to breathe calmly, doing his best to ignore the nausea, which was already dulling thanks to his effort, fortunately.

He finally took a look at his surroundings. They were in the back garden, behind a huge bush. The vegetation hid them from most of the guards’ eyes, which was a good thing, since the spirit still needed several minutes until he was able to stand up. The sun seemed to have set not long ago and the air was colder than before he left for the kid’s ship. He felt his body shudder from the chill, though it did help to reduce his nausea. It was dark outside, which helped them to fade into the background. Sure, he was the Prince and the guards normally wouldn’t do anything to him but… Vanessa and her accomplice might have asked them to take him back inside if they ever saw him out of his bedroom. Something like that wouldn’t surprise him. As for what they would do to the kid, on the other hand… He didn’t want to think about it now.

Little by little, he felt the unease go away and his mind clearing up with it.

-“Snatcher…?” insisted the little girl, seeing his malaise disappearing as well: “Sorry, you get used to it after a while…”

The shade had to think for a moment until he understood what the child was talking about: the teleportation process. _God_ , how was she even able to feel so well after that? Well, he thought, maybe it was because he still wasn’t used to having organs yet. It was probably one of those things one could only get used to after more than a few days. Or, well, maybe it was just because the kid was an alien and their biology was simply too much different _on the inside_. That would explain quite a lot, if it was the case.

The ghost panted for a few seconds more and finally asked his ex-contractor about it:

-“ _How_ are you not sick every time you teleport? I feel like I’m going to puke…”

The small brat gave him a faint and sympathetic smile, a look that Snatcher definitely hated when it came to him:

-“Don’t worry, it was the same for me,” she replied, before trying to reassure him more: “I had a lot of training sessions with teleportation before I was even allowed to have my own ship, so I know how it’s like.”

She eventually changed her mind and started to rub the ghost’s back slowly. Snatcher didn’t feel much nauseous anymore and, contrary to what he believed, the contact actually helped him to feel better. She probably knew what to do with that kind of malaise, if what she said was true. Maybe she had had someone on her home planet to do the same for her. He still disliked the contact, but it was more out of pride rather than anything else.

After a while, the ghost felt better enough to stand up, still watched carefully by the girl’s blue eyes. He could tell she was still worried about him and, truth to be told, he wasn’t particularly reassured about his state either. The spirit took a final deep breath and straightened: it wasn’t the moment to think about that. They needed to move and get inside the mansion!

-“Time to get going, kiddo,” he said, decided.

-“Are you sure?” whispered back the kid, still visibly anxious: “We can wait a little more if-”

-“No, I’m _fine_ ,” retorted Snatcher darkly, not liking being pitied over: “We’re doing this _now_.”

The hat-wearing brat nodded, though she looked unconvinced. Snatcher scanned the area: the guards mostly stayed motionless, unless they heard something suspicious. Luckily, both he and the child had been discreet so far. However, they would need to be very careful when trying to get closer to the mansion: even if it was dark, it was still very much possible to perceive figures in the darkness. If these guards were just like the ones he used to know… They were pretty serious and dedicated to their job.

-“So, you’re still sure it’s in there?” questioned Snatcher, just to be sure. Next to him, the kid shifted, apparently ill-at-ease.

-“It _is_ inside, but…” she started, gulping with difficulty: “It’s weird. I know it’s in there, I can feel it… But it feels like it’s not the same?”

-“What do you mean?” pressed the shade, not liking the look on her face and the way she played with her hands nervously.

-“Well, uh… I can feel my Time Pieces when they’re around, it’s like a basic instinct for me. But this time, its aura feels… _Different_ ,” explained the little girl.

-“Different _how_?”

The brat frowned, thinking for a while, as if she had trouble putting words over said feeling:

-“It’s like… _Vaguer_? I _know_ it’s in there, I _know_ which way it is… The thing is I can’t help but have a _very bad_ feeling about this. It just feels different! I don’t know how I can explain it. _It’s weird_.”

As soon as the words left her mouth, the unease intensified on her face. So there _was_ a problem. Snatcher had trouble imagining the kid exaggerating it: after all, she was the time expert! Though, knowing how she felt about the object they were looking for… The spirit couldn’t help but feel wary at the thought. _She was right_. Even if he couldn’t sense anything, the ghost _knew_ something was _wrong_.

-“You think it’s a trap?” he asked her, glowering as well. Wouldn’t it be too easy if they found the Time Piece inside? Wouldn’t it have been smarter to hide it somewhere in the village? It was a place he couldn’t go without drawing attention to himself… From what he gathered, no one seemed to be aware of the hatted child’s presence… So why would Vanessa and her accomplice hide the precious object exactly where he was? It _was_ suspicious.

-“I don’t know…” answered the kid, grimacing: “I still feel it inside, so it’s definitely there… Though I have no idea where this weird sensation comes from.”

Snatcher remained silent and looked at the manor. They still had a countdown problem: if they didn’t try anything now, the rift would collapse, taking them with it in the process. The ghost didn’t want to know what it would _feel_ like.

-“Well…” he paused, sighing: “Guess there is only one way to find out.”

The child nodded, however, her face showed that she was still anxious. He couldn’t blame her.

-“So… How are we going to break in?” then asked the hatted kid, still hesitant.

The question took Snatcher aback when it really shouldn’t have: the reason was that he had thought about it and he had come up with an option that was… _Not ideal_. Most of the doors were closed at night, and often guarded by at least two soldiers. But there was _one_ door that wasn’t guarded: the trapdoor leading to the _cellar_. And Snatcher did _not_ want to go through there, no matter how urgent the situation was. There was _no way_ he would float or walk in there ever again, _dead or alive_! Just thinking about it was bringing him horrible memories of his last moments shackled to this wall, feeling the cold finally numbing the pain in his body… His bones had broken with his weight pulling him down and he only died hours after that. It had seemed like days, months, years, _centuries_ to him… At the time, he had lost all hope of ever getting out and only waited for death to save him, to end this awful and terrible suffering both hurting his body and his heart. How could Vanessa have done this to him? After everything they had experienced together? It had taken him years to even _consider_ that he wasn’t the faulty one and that _maybe_ Vanessa _was_ the problem.

And now he would have to relive _all_ those memories again? _Absolutely not_.

-“Snatcher?” the little voice cut his thoughts short once again and he lowered his eyes to the small child, whose worried expression only intensified when she saw his expression. He couldn’t even imagine the face he was making at the moment. But he didn’t have to be extremely smart to see that the child quickly understood what was going on in his mind. Her face crumpled instantly and her teeth were clenched. The ghost couldn’t help but frown at the sight in front of him: she was _pitying_ him, wasn’t she? _Why_? There was no reason to, it all belonged to the past now. Yet, some old wounds never fully healed…

He jumped silently when he felt the child’s little hands take his, squeezing them tight as her eyes were staring at him with _compassion_ and _concern_. God, he _loathed_ being looked at this way. The spirit’s reflex was to pull his hand away, not wanting to admit the contact had felt _comforting_ , at least for a few seconds. _Yeah, right_! Yet, he couldn’t deny the tinge of guilt when he was rewarded with the child’s hurt look, though it was brief. The kid seemed to understand his need for personal space and took a step back, to Snatcher’s great relief. He didn’t _need_ contact now. The ghost looked at his hands: he was shaking. His legs felt weak and his heart was beating fast inside his chest. _Great_. He realized that he had stopped breathing only when the kid started to talk again:

-“We… We don’t have to go through there. I’m sure there are plenty of ways we can enter the mansion!” assured the brat, trying to be reassuring. However, Snatcher knew better. He wasn’t _stupid_. He wasn’t some _dumb child_ who needed _comfort_ and _sympathy_ , especially coming from _her_. This was _not_ what he needed.

Snatcher scoffed and lifted his hands as he replied, with a voice full of sarcasm:

-“Oh yeah? And _how else_ are we going to break in? There are guards _everywhere!_ ”

The child seemed offended at his retort but didn’t say anything back. She probably knew it wasn’t the right time to argue with him and she was right to think so. They often argued normally, but _this_ was _different_ and the girl knew it. She bit the bullet and only sighed, not answering back. Instead, her eyes scanned the mansion, looking for any way in. Snatcher imitated her, ready to take every possible risk if it meant he wouldn’t have to go in there _again_. _Everything but this_.

The shade could see his bedroom window from there, but it was way too high, and the door was closed on the inside. He could also see Vanessa’s window, though this was _definitely not_ an option. He scanned several other windows until he felt the kid’s elbow nudging him.

-“Hey, look!” she exclaimed, still softly not to be heard by any guard. The shade looked in the direction she was pointing at and his eyes widened. The girl was pointing at an ajar window! It was one of the kitchen ones. He almost didn’t believe it: it was too good to be true!

He mindlessly let a sigh of relief escape him at the realization that there was actually _another solution_. In the corner of his vision, he could see the child beaming proudly at him. The spirit tried to ignore the warm feeling rising in his chest at the sight. This was _ridiculous_. Though he supposed she _did_ deserve a thank-you, especially considering how patient she had been after what happened on the ship. She still looked _extremely_ tired, but it was now a bit hidden by her overjoyed expression. He could tell she wanted to jump around everywhere in excitement, only managing to hold herself back because she knew they had to stay discreet.

The ghost clenched his teeth as he extended his hand towards her, patting her head briefly. He couldn’t believe he just did that. But she _did_ deserve it, he supposed…

-“It’s only a window, calm down! There are way more important things to be excited about than a dumb window!” But, after a few seconds, he muttered a quick “thank you” that he was sure the kid had heard, seeing how her smile widened even more. The contact already made her bounce up and down!

-“And stop smiling like that, will you? You look stupider than usual!” grunted the ghost, knowing fully well that it would only make the brat happier than she already was. God, this kid would _never_ let him forget that, would she?

The shade then straightened. No more fooling around now. It was time to _get serious_. He brought the child back to task and she replied by saluting him as if he were her boss. Snatcher sighed and decided to ignore her, conscious that she would never get back to the situation at hand otherwise. It apparently worked as she looked back at the kitchen window, her joyful expression soon replaced by a serious and determined one. How would they reach it without being seen by the guards? They needed to be discreet. Yet, it was going to be hard to cross the whole backyard quick enough.

Snatcher didn’t even the time to turn towards the kid as he heard a poofing sound behind him. Just as he was about to ask what was that noise, he felt himself being lifted up from the ground. The sudden movement caused him to jump from the surprise. He realized that the child had taken him onto her very small shoulder, without flinching or losing her balance. He lowered his head to stare at her in bewilderment: _how_ was she able to hold a fully grown adult? She was just a _kid_!

… An _alien_ kid with a biology which was probably completely different than a human one.

He was going to order her to put him back on the ground when he saw the new hat on the brat’s head: it was the time stop one. Snatcher’s face grew pale as he started to understand what she was planning to do.

-“Wait… Wait, wait, wait, no-” stuttered the ghost, trying to persuade her to not do what she was about to do. But the child only lifted her head to look at him mischievously, definitely defying his demands. She started to run. And then the ghost blinked. When he opened his eyes again, everything had changed around them. The vegetation had disappeared, replaced by walls, counters and cupboards, tables and chairs… They were not outside anymore: the kid had taken them into the kitchen in a blink, _literally_. The hatted child put Snatcher back on the floor and the spirit had to hold to one of the counters to stomach what had happened. This… Was _not_ something he thought he would experience. It was definitely weird, though clearly not as bad as teleportation.

-“Hey, Snatcher, you okay?” whispered the little girl, looking at him with a malicious smile. _That brat…_!

-“You could have warned me you wanted to do that…” grunted the shade, slowly pulling himself together. This mission was not going to be a simple walk in the park… Especially not if the kid decided to keep up this kind of _risky_ behaviour. They only had one chance, _now_ was _not_ the time for hazardous stunts.

The ghost turned back to the window, which had remained open, and threw a careful glance outside. No one seemed to have noticed them, fortunately. Still, what the kid had done could have ruined their chances and Snatcher couldn’t remain silent about it. He slowly closed the window, not wanting to draw attention. He then turned back towards the kid, glaring at her:

-“Next time, don’t be that reckless, we can’t be found.”

The child only rolled her eyes, annoyed:

-“Yeeees, dad!”

The shade grew pale immediately and almost lost his balance to the kid’s words. _What_? His reaction must have been really funny to her as she started giggling in the palm of her hand. _She was making fun of him_! Anger and indignation arose inside of him: how _dared_ she? Plus, this was _not_ the time!

-“I _swear_ , once we’re out of this mess, I’ll make sure to-”

Snatcher didn’t have the time to finish his sentence. Footsteps resonated in the next hallway, coming closer and closer. The spirit could feel his heart sinking in his chest as he realized that someone was going to enter this room in a few seconds. They had to hide! The same look of panic had replaced the child’s playful expression. She probably understood it as well and her stance was much more tensed than before. The shade looked all around themselves, trying to find any good hiding spot. But the steps were coming closer and closer. The kid quickly kneeled down and took his hand, pulling him with her. The ghost mindlessly followed her, too distressed to think. They both crawled under the table, just in time. The moment they hid, the door opened and two guards entered the room. Thankfully, the tablecloth was long enough to keep them hidden from the men’s sight. They could still see their feet walking around.

-“See?” said one of the guards, punching the other’s shoulder mockingly: “I told you there was no one there. You’re _so_ paranoid, _relax_.”

Next to him, the kid was holding her breath, keeping her mouth shut by covering it with both hands. Snatcher himself did his best to stay silent. His whole body was frozen, not moving an inch, and he was barely breathing as well. The feet continued moving.

-“Yeah… You’re right,” replied the other, embarrassed: “No one would break in. I thought I heard something, but it was probably my imagination.”

The spirit’s eyes locked with the brat’s scared ones. Well, _now_ she seemed to understand what he meant earlier! But it was too late! He glared at her to prove his point, but she just lowered her hands to stick her tongue out in response. The ghost’s anger intensified. _Oh, if only he had his powers_! But he still couldn’t use them under this form, so the only thing he could do at the moment was glaring at her even more.

-“Yeah it was, just like I told you!” retorted the first one with a sneering tone: “Come on, let’s go back to work.”

The guards left the room after what seemed like an eternity to Snatcher. Once the door closed behind them, he and the brat waited for a bit before daring to move an inch. When the spirit thought they were finally safe, he crawled away from the table, clearly exasperated by the hat-wearing child’s attitude.

-“What was _that_?” he whispered furiously, lifting his arms in an interrogative and irritated gesture.

The little girl pouted at his reproach, staring at the ground as she grumbled:

-“I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t think they would hear us from there.”

The ghost would have facepalmed if he wasn’t trying to stay as focused as possible:

-“Well, _duh_! _Of course_ they were going to hear us! You weren’t exactly _cautious_ as far as I know!”

-“Yeah, _fine_ , my bad. Can we move on now?” retorted the kid, annoyed. Snatcher was doing his best to stay calm despite his ex-contractor’s insolence. She definitely didn’t like being told what to do, _which was a shame_ , since it was exactly what was going to happen.

The shade pinched his nose and took a deep breath. _He could do this_.

-“Listen, _I’m_ the one who knows this manor. So, from now on, when I tell you to hide or to stay quiet, _you obey me_. The only thing _you_ need to care about is telling me _where_ that Time Piece is. Is that _clear_ or do you need me to explain it in a more _murderous way_?”

The child sighed and nodded, still very much displeased by the discussion. However, she wasn’t in a position to say anything against it, so she reluctantly agreed. Well, that was the first step, at least.

-“Okay, so, about that Time Piece,” said the spirit: “Do you know where it is?”

His interlocutor took a moment to think, closing her eyes for a few seconds. The process seemed to be harder than usual as she started to frown. It was enough to tell the ghost that the search wasn’t going to be as easy as he hoped.

-“Hum… It’s weird…” started the brat, thinking harder: “I _can_ feel it, it’s upstairs but… It’s very _vague_. I feel its aura above us, but I can’t _exactly_ tell you _where_ it is. It’s like there is _something_ hiding it from me.”

Snatcher wasn’t surprised. The idea of “Simeon” and Vanessa not taking precautions to protect the precious artefact would have been rather absurd. If he were in their shoes, hiding the Time Piece would have been one of the first things he would have done. But, at least, they could work with a warm and cold kind of game. It wouldn’t be easy and they would probably need to check some of the rooms without being found by the guards patrolling in the hallways… But it was still a lead.

The spirit nodded. They could work with this. Well, they _had to_ if they didn’t want to disappear with the rift’s collapse. It’s not like they had any choice in the matter anyway.

-“Well…” guessed the ghost: “I suppose we should get going then.”

The kid agreed. Both of them walked to the door, ready to start this treasure hunt for their survival. Deep inside, the shade couldn’t help but have a very bad feeling about this. But how hard could it be? He knew the manor perfectly and the kid had enough magical hats in case of emergency! _What could go wrong_?

The ghost opened the door carefully, throwing a glance in the hallway to make sure no one was there.

_They had a treasure to find_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, what could go wrong ? :)
> 
> I hope you liked that chapter ! The last drawing is one of my favourites, I had so much fun drawing it. I hope you'll like the next chapters as well !  
> And thank you SO MUCH for all your support, it makes me feel so happy reading your comments and theories !!
> 
> See you later ! Take care in the meantime !


	17. “I can’t help but think we’re falling into a trap.”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Snatcher and Hat Kid continues their search for the Time Piece !

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELLO, NEW CHAPTER, WOOOOH
> 
> I hope you'll like this one !  
> Don't hesitate to leave me a comment if you like this fanfiction, as it helps me A LOT !
> 
> You can find more of my art/updates about the fanfic here : https://erekiosuncreativeideas.tumblr.com/
> 
> Happy reading :)

Sneaking into the huge mansion was not an easy task and Snatcher knew it well enough. Some servants stayed later than the others to finish their cleaning duties while the guards patrolled inside the manor. Fortunately for Snatcher and the hatted child, the mansion had a lot of connected areas, so it was possible to avoid guards by going through some of the rooms.

Both exited the kitchen slowly and carefully. The kid apparently had understood his previous reproach and stayed behind him, letting him lead the way. It was clear that she was doing it reluctantly, but with the way they almost got caught earlier, she couldn’t say anything against it. As long as she was obeying his orders, Snatcher didn’t care whether she was happy or not. What _was_ important was finding that Time Piece and the sooner the better.

The ghost guided them silently to the living room, which was the only way to go upstairs. Thankfully, no guards were patrolling -yet- on the ground floor, so they didn’t run into anyone in the hallways. The shade put his hand on the doorknob and twisted it very delicately. His eyes peeked inside to see if someone was there, letting out a sigh of relief when he saw no one in the room. He quickly opened the door and gestured to the kid, ordering her to come inside. Surprisingly, she did so without sighing or rolling her eyes: well, _finally_ she was taking this seriously! The ghost closed the door once he entered the room. However, just as he was about to go towards the other door leading to the stairs, he heard footstep coming from it. A wave of panic engulfed him for the second time this evening and he immediately turned to the brat, whose face showed the same expression than his.

-“Hide, quick!” he whispered urgently, though the kid didn’t wait for his order to crawl under the pool table. _Right_ , she _had_ to do that kind of thing when he had sent her to the manor in the early beginning of their so-called “ _friendship_ ”. She didn’t need any advice from him regarding that type of danger. The spirit, on the other hand, still had to find a place to hide. But _where_?

His eyes fell on the bar and it was all he needed to run in its direction. He hid behind the counter, praying not to be found. What would he say in that case? Maybe he was the Prince but that wouldn’t explain _why_ he would hide that way. A few seconds after he sat behind the counter, the staircase door opened and several sets of steps could be heard:

-“… And then I said that he should talk to his wife about it, but he got mad and yelled at me,” said an unknown masculine voice, probably belonging to another guard: “I didn’t say anything wrong, did I?”

-“Nah,” replied another voice in a reassuring tone, “you did the right thing. I think he’s just in denial, give him some time to think about it.”

Snatcher rolled his eyes: he hoped those soldiers had better things to do than stay here and talk about their private life… He remained unmoving, listening to the men’s conversation, hoping they wouldn’t notice either him or the kid hidden under the pool table. The room wasn’t completely dark, so it was still possible to perceive objects, figures or faces if one squinted enough.

-“Yeah, probably…” concluded the former before continuing, with a much more enthusiastic voice: “Hey, wanna drink something?”

The spirit’s blood turned cold at the guard’s words. If they ever came here… It would be over, he would be found. He was only hidden by the counter! His body froze in fear as he heard the other guard’s answer:

-“Oooh, you like living dangerously! Alright, why not. There are so many bottles there, it’s not like they’re going to notice anything’s changed…”

The shade was absolutely terrified. What was he going to do? He couldn’t justify himself being hidden there! What if it ever came back to Vanessa’s ears? To “Simeon”’s ears? He couldn’t possibly be found by _anyone_. Silently, he took one of the bottles of alcohol next to him and held it like a weapon, ready to jump on the guards if they did come close enough to see him. He wasn’t really coordinated nor trained to fight with a body like this, _but_ he had the element of surprise!

… No matter how desperate his position was, he could still _try_ to convince himself that he had a chance against two men fully trained to fight against any intruder. If only he had his powers back… _That_ would make a difference!

The ghost heard the footsteps coming closer and he readied himself, holding his breath. He hoped the kid would be up for a fight because it was one of the most possible outcomes for his current situation. He waited, clenching his hold on the bottle as he prepared himself for the _right moment_. And then, just like he expected, one of the guards’ head came into his sight as the latter made a step towards the inner space between the counters. Snatcher launched himself at the man as fast as he could, knocking the guard’s head with the object. An attack such as this one would have been easily avoided in many other situations yet, thanks to the element of surprise and the darkness in the room, Snatcher’s hit successfully landed on his opponent. The bottle broke from the violent impact and glass fragments fell all over the floor. The soldier definitely didn’t see the spirit’s attack coming and fell on the floor, not completely unconscious but certainly not able to stand up again.

The other man jumped at Snatcher’s sudden attack and instantly put his hand on his sword, starting to draw it. However, when the guard’s eyes met the shade’s, his face crumpled in pure astonishment and confusion. Well, seeing your soon-to-be-ruler knocking out your partner surely had to be a strange sight for the man.

-“P-Prince Alistel?” stuttered the latter, not knowing how to react at this unexplainable action. His mind seemed to consider conflicting thoughts as his eyes darted from the ghost to his friend lying on the ground, barely conscious at this point. Snatcher kept his mouth shut as he adopted a fighting stance. The person in front of him wasn’t real. The ghost had almost forgotten since they seemed so real to him, but he couldn’t forget what the kid had told him: everything, _including the people living here_ … It was just a huge replica of what had existed in the past.

Nothing, _no one_ was actually real except Vanessa, the kid, him, and _whatever_ was hiding behind Simeon’s identity.

The man opened his mouth to talk again but was interrupted as something very fast moved around them, hitting the man right on the back of his head several times with a blueish object. It was so quick that the movement had seemed blurry to Snatcher, but the purple and yellow smudges he had perceived gave him a pretty big clue on what had just happened.

The man fell to the floor, deeply unconscious. The foggy figure in front of him cleared up. It was the hatted brat, holding her blue umbrella with her tiny yet strong hands. She had used the time stop hat again, though this time it had actually saved Snatcher. He hated to admit it but, deep inside of him, he knew very well that he had absolutely _no chance_ against an armed soldier, especially with a broken bottle as a weapon to fight with.

The little girl was watching him with a smug expression as she negligently laid the umbrella down on her shoulder. She was pretty powerful, for a child of her size… But, then again, she had been the one beating him when he had tried to kill her. And if she had managed to do that, then a single guard wasn’t much of a threat to her, especially when she had those hats of hers.

The shade looked at her, then to the bodies laying on the ground. His eyes went back on her and he snorted at how proud of herself she seemed to be:

-“Woah, kid, you beat up _one_ guy! Congrats!” nagged the ghost, slowly -and silently- clapping his hands sarcastically: “Do you want me to give you a medal or something?”

The child rolled her eyes, still smiling with that awful self-satisfied grin:

-“Oh come on, I _totally_ saved your butt just now.”

Snatcher frowned at her retort, not only because of her language but also because she _was_ right. The spirit would have had no chance on his own. However, the ghost merely shrugged, not wanting to start a fight on that topic. _They had bodies to hide_. How would they explain the presence of unconscious soldiers to the other patrolling guards otherwise?

-“Okay, _fine_ , you win that round,” mumbled Snatcher before pointing to the bodies: “Now, help me hide them behind the counter.”

The kid nodded and started helping him. Even though they weren’t real, the soldiers’ weight _definitely_ seemed real. They moved quickly, hiding the evidence as fast as they could before another patrol interrupted them again. Once it was over, Snatcher started to lead the way again, opening the staircase door carefully. No one was there, which allowed them to continue their infiltration mission. Yet, the hardest part was just beginning, as _Vanessa’s bedroom_ was on the second floor.

The shade made sure no one was in the hallways. It was strangely quiet and _empty_. Usually, there was always at least one servant walking around, finishing late chores… But now wasn’t the case. Was it a coincidence? Was it because all of this wasn’t real? Or… Was it a trap? Were they only walking into the lion’s den? Snatcher frowned at the possibility. He _really_ hoped that wasn’t the case. Though, what other choice did they have? It wasn’t like they could just turn around and wait for another opportunity! They didn’t have the _time_ for that!

Just like before, Snatcher led the way, very attentive to any suspicious noise around them as they progressed through the hallway. It was _too calm_. Why? Sure, they had run into soldiers earlier, but it was almost _too easy_. The ghost had a bad feeling about this. He didn’t _actually_ want guards to find them, _obviously_ , though the lack of people in the mansion made him feel ill-at-ease.

-“Hey,” murmured the shade, nudging the child: “Do you feel your Time Piece here?”

The girl stopped walking and closed her eyes, thinking. Snatcher, in the meantime, made sure no one came and noticed them. After a few seconds, the brat opened her mouth, answering his question:

-“We’re getting closer,” she nodded and kept going: “but it’s not on this floor. It’s _higher_.”

-“Higher?”

That would either be the third floor or the attic. His room was on the next floor but he hadn’t noticed anything weird during his short stay there. Then again, if he had a Time Piece to hide, he would have made sure to choose a surprising place.

-“Yeah… It’s not here,” concluded the child, visibly sure of her affirmation. Well, she _was_ the expert regarding that kind of things. Snatcher only nodded and started moving again. _Higher_ it was, then.

They reached the staircase door without encountering any soldiers or servants. This was easy, _too easy_. The spirit didn’t like how effortless their mission was. Were they just lucky? His expression darkened: no, it couldn’t be. Deep down, he _knew_ something was wrong.

-“I can’t help but think we’re falling into a trap,” admitted the shade, glowering at the door.

-“Me too,” agreed the hatted kid with a frown: “I was expecting more… _Resistance_. But my Time Piece is up here, I can _feel_ it. It’s definitely above us.”

And _that_ was the problem, wasn’t it? Even if they knew how suspicious the situation seemed, they _had_ to continue to find the time artefact. They both looked just like Snatcher’s old victims, running into a trap he had set up, with a lure at the centre of it. This was _exactly_ what was happening at the moment. Still, they still didn’t have the _time_ to think of another plan.

They climbed the stairs, greeted once again by the sight of an empty hallway. This was _not_ normal. He and the kid exchanged a knowing look at the realization.

-“What about now?” asked Snatcher, still very careful not to raise his voice too much, just in case: “Do you feel anything?”

The little girl nodded:

-“I can sense it but it’s not there,” she explained: “I think it’s in the attic. I feel like it’s above my head again, but… It’s still vague and I can’t explain _why_.”

The frown on the spirit’s face intensified: he didn’t like this. He _really_ didn’t like this. It was clear that _something_ was going on in the dark and wanted them to come. Why would it be so easy if it wasn’t the case? It had to be “Simeon”’s or Vanessa’s intents.

-“Are you _sure_ it’s in the attic?” questioned Snatcher, more and more uncertain of the future events. The kid looked just as doubtful as him, an undeniable sign that there _was_ indeed something wrong.

-“I’m sure I feel its presence there, yes.”

The ghost sighed. It was a trap, undoubtedly… But that didn’t change the fact that the Time Piece was in that room. If they stayed vigilant, they could stop whatever ambush waiting for them… He used to be a powerful ghost! And he even had a dangerous brat accompanying him! What could go wrong? At least, that was what Snatcher was trying to reassure himself with.

They crossed the hallway just as quickly as the other ones, still without meeting anyone. Snatcher opened the door of the staircase and led the way once again, followed closely by the little girl. She was holding her umbrella tightly, expecting an ambuscade just like he was. But the sight that greeted them was very much different than what they had been expecting: just in front of them, the door leading to the attic was closed. Chains were circled around the doorknobs, with a huge black padlock on the front. Snatcher mindlessly tried to open the door nonetheless, hardly believing what was happening. Why would everything be so _easy_ just to block them in the end? The shade didn’t understand!

“ _What the-_ ” Snatcher didn’t have the time to finish this thought as he heard a familiar poofing sound next to him. The small girl had changed her hat once again, now wearing her brewing hat. She readjusted it on her head as if she was trying to show she meant business and declared, on a serious and determined tone:

-“Don’t worry, I _got_ this!” she assured, materializing an explosive potion thanks to her hat abilities. She was probably thinking of blowing up the padlock. Normally, the ghost would have stopped her, saying they needed to be discreet… But after so many empty hallways, it was clear that they were _meant_ to go there. Plus, the spirit couldn’t think of many other ways of quickly opening a locked door.

However, just as he was about to take his hand back and step aside to leave the door to the kid, Snatcher felt a _very_ malevolent presence just behind him.

His body froze immediately as a familiar voice arose in his back, with a deceitfully joyful tone:

-“Oh, but I’m _afraid_ I cannot let you go any further.”

Snatcher turned to the voice, absolutely surprised by the sudden apparition. _Simeon_! However, he was too late and his body barely had the time to move as a violent hit landed on his head, making his vision spin as he lost his balance from the sudden shock. A harsh feeling of pain engulfed him as his body fell to the floor with a thump. The world was blurry, and something warm was leaking from his head. His eyes had closed and the pain worsened when he tried to open them again. His head hurt _so much_.

A shriek made him go back to reality. _The kid_! The panicked spirit did everything he could to look around, trying to find her in his foggy vision.

-“Snatcher!” she yelled, with a voice full of fear and worry. The shade squinted and that’s when he saw her. He had hoped she would beat the heck of the butler with her umbrella and all the hats she had brought with her. Though, a very different vision greeted him, much to his horror.

The kid was held up in one of the man’s hands by her cape, unable to hurt her opponent because of the distance separating them. Her hat had been taken away from her and was now in the butler’s right hand. The little girl was trying to get free of Simeon’s grasp, only to fail as the man remained unmoving, keeping her in the air while watching her struggle in vain. _Why_? Why couldn’t the kid get away from him?

-“Snatcher!” she called out to him once more, looking at him with eyes full of tears and terror. A feeling of dread settled over the shade as he realized that she simply _couldn’t_ fight back. By glancing around, the ghost saw the umbrella far, far away from them. With her hat being taken away from her and without any weapon to fight with… The kid was just utterly _defenceless_ against a fully grown-up adult.

-“Let… Let go of her!” grunted the spirit, teeth clenched from how livid he was. If he harmed her, if he just _tried_ to hurt her…! He glared at the butler and tried to get up, unsuccessfully. The more he attempted to move, the foggier became his mind. _Why_ did he have to stay stuck in a body like this? He couldn’t stay on the ground, he just _couldn’t_!

The girl held out her hand, begging him for help when he was still very much barely conscious. Still, he _had_ to do something! He couldn’t let this useless body prevent him from _punching this guy_! If he didn’t have his lasers to fight with, he _still_ had hands! However, the only thing he managed to do was lifting his hand off the ground, stretching his arm towards the brat weakly, as he felt his strength slowly disappearing from his body. His vision was becoming blurry again and something warm ran over his eyes, blocking his eyesight. Was it… _Blood_?

-“Wake up!” cried the small child, struggling even more in Simeon’s arms, trying her best to make him lose his balance, but it was all useless. The other man wouldn’t budge, no matter how much she moved. He only watched her pitiful attempts, amused. How was he even able to stay like this? And why was the ghost so _weak_ in comparison…?

The spirit clenched his teeth, wanting nothing more than to stand up and help the brat… But his body refused to move, no matter how hard he was trying, no matter _how hard_ he wanted to protect the kid. His mind was foggy and Snatcher had to fight to stay conscious, as more blood poured from his injury. He could hear a ringing sound resonating in his ears, almost covering the other sounds around him.

A cruel laugh escaped the butler’s lips as he stared at the little girl’s eyes:

-“Oh, I do not think our _friend_ is going to wake up soon, my dear _pest_ ,” lectured Simeon with a false friendly tone: “But don’t worry! I’ll make sure you _both_ perish where _he_ belongs.”

The pain was _unbearable_ and the shade could feel himself losing the battle for his consciousness the more seconds passed. He could hear the child screaming, yelling, _begging_ him for help… But, Snatcher couldn’t move. His body seemed to become heavier and heavier. His eyelids were like hefty doors he couldn’t keep open. Soon, the shade’s lifted arm fell to the ground, his strength abandoning him more and more.

The kid needed him _so much_ … He _couldn’t_ leave her in this guy’s hands…! He had to save her, to save _both of them_!

But he slowly felt his consciousness drift away, carried by the girl’s terrified cries.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAHAHAHAHA FOOOOOOOOOOL  
> WHAT A CLIFFHANGER AM I RIGHT ?
> 
> Don't worry, I'll try my best not to make you wait for too long. Though, ah, you have NO IDEA how much I WANTED to post this chapter !!  
> I hope you liked it :)
> 
> See you on the next chapter !


	18. “How dare you!”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Snatcher has a lot of things to say.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CHAPTER 18 IS HERE !!! I hope you’ll like it !
> 
> ALSO : I commissioned Puyo-Proto to voice a bit of Snatcher in this scene !!! The result is amazing, I’m so happy with it, thank you again !! You’re so talented !
> 
> YOU CAN LISTEN TO IT HERE : https://erekiosuncreativeideas.tumblr.com/post/618118624268468224/major-spoilers-for-the-chapter-18-of-reliving-an
> 
> OF COURSE, MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE CHAPTER, so I advise you to read said chapter first!  
> Check out his amazing voice acting ! Here’s his twitter : https://twitter.com/Puyo_Proto
> 
> (Sorry for the delay about replying to all of your lovely comments ! I was so happy to see so much comments on the last chapter, thank you so much ! Plus, I must say that your reactions was WAY BETTER than what I had imagined xD)
> 
> You can find more about my art and how the writing is going here : https://erekiosuncreativeideas.tumblr.com/
> 
> HAPPY READING !

Snatcher had thought that he had experienced pain in the most _unenjoyable_ ways… But, _oh_ , he had been _so wrong_. The ghost’s consciousness started to emerge again, slowly waking up to awful pains in all parts of his body. But what hurt the most was his head: the shade could feel every heartbeat resonating inside of his skull, as if someone was hammering the walls around his brain. He just wanted the sensation _to go away_. He was _so_ tired, so nauseous, everything was so painful!

The spirit barely realized he had let out a whimper as his mind was way too foggy to care. All he wanted was to ignore the growing pain in his body and go back to sleep, where everything was so much more _peaceful_ …

-“Snatcher?” said a soft and sad little voice on his right. The shade felt his consciousness be stimulated by the cry for help next to him. What was happening? The question appeared in the ghost’s mind as he couldn’t help but have a _very_ bad feeling. Why did he feel this way? Why couldn’t he think clearly? Why did he feel himself be stuck against something, while his lower body dangled in the air? Why couldn’t he move his hands?

And _why_ did this all feel so _extremely familiar_?

The sudden realization hit him hard, pure horror engulfing him. He knew _exactly_ what was happening, he remembered _everything_ his body was currently experiencing. He had gone through that kind of suffering in the past when-

He opened his eyes, panicked. He felt his heart sinking in his chest as he immediately recognized the room he was in: damp walls made of stones, a cobblestone floor, several casks scattered around the place, huge kegs, humid and cold air… _Snatcher was in the cellar again_. His hands just like his torso were shackled to the wall, _exactly like hundreds of years ago_.

His breathing got caught in his throat from the shock. No, he _couldn’t_ be there again, he couldn’t go through this _torture_ again! Once was already more than enough! _Why was he here again_?!

-“Snatcher! Snap out of it!”

His attention got back to the small child next to him. She was shackled to the wall just like he was. It is only then that he noticed he had been hyperventilating. His ears were ringing from the panic and his mouth was dry. The little girl had tears marks on her cheeks and her eyes were red from all the crying she must have done while he was still unconscious. She didn’t have her hat on and the accessory was nowhere in sight. She didn’t seem to be injured, which was a relief to the spirit. He tried his best to calm himself down, still very much scared and confused by his current situation.

-“What… Why are we…” he tried to ask, yet couldn’t say the words, for some unknown reason. Maybe it was the shock, maybe it was all the trauma coming back to him after all those years… Or maybe his throat was too dry to make any sound. In any case, he wasn’t able to finish this sentence and hoped the brat would understand what he had meant: “ _what happened? Why are we **here**_?”

Given the context, his ex-contractor had no problem to decipher what he had tried to say. She attempted to move, but the chains on her wrists prevented her to move too much. She winced in the process, certainly from the pain it caused. _And oh, Snatcher knew very well how painful it could be_.

-“We… We got caught,” explained the child with a weak voice: “I was going to blow up the padlock with my hat, but… The butler knocked you out…”

The memories were now coming back to the ghost like vivid visions in his mind. He could remember the sudden pain on the back of his head, the cries coming from the little girl… She had begged him to help her, to stand up and fight… But he had lost consciousness.

And now they were in the _cellar_. The last place he wanted to see or be in _again_.

Snatcher pulled on the chains, yet it was all in vain: as a mere human, he wouldn’t be able to get free. _He knew that_. However, he kept trying, feeling a mix of fear and anger powering his attempts. He couldn’t stay here, _he couldn’t_ , not again, not a second time… And even less with the _kid_ next to him, in the same situation as him. He would definitely _not_ allow it. The very idea of having her going through that _hell_ just made him livid: _never_ , he would _never_ allow it! If she had to suffer, it was going to be through him and _no one else_!

And so, the ghost screamed. No matter how much the little girl jumped beside him, no matter how much his throat ached, and no matter how much time it would take… He was going to get out and _kill_ Vanessa and her accomplice, _once and for all_. He hadn’t finished the job the first time and it had been one of his biggest mistakes… A mistake he wouldn’t repeat. _Even if he had to die in the process_.

Rage had engulfed him whole as he tried to pull on the chains, again and again and again… The sound of the chains resonated in the room just like his pants from his effort. But he was far, _far from being over_! If he had to break his own wrists to get out of these chains, he would! _This wouldn't be the first time anyway_!

-“Snatcher! Snatcher stop!” begged the hatless brat. Though, the spirit wasn’t listening. _He didn’t want to listen_.

He was going to get out, he was going to get out, _he was going to get out_! His screams were deafening and became feral-like the more he screamed. He could hear the child trying to calm him down next to him, _but the shade didn’t care_. He didn’t have to care in his situation! How could anyone expect him to stay calm _when he had to relive his worst nightmare_?

And then, all of a sudden, the air around them became awfully chilly. The spirit stopped abruptly, confusion replacing his anger for just a moment.

“ _Why…?_ ” Though, his bewilderment didn’t last long as he quickly put the missing piece of the puzzle. It was _her_ , _it could only be her_. The sound of muffled steps behind the door of the cellar only confirmed his suspicions. _Vanessa was there_. Whether she had come because of his screams or just because she wanted to bathe in his hatred for her and his rage… It didn’t change the fact that _she was behind the door_. Even as a simple human, the spirit could still sense her presence behind the wooden surface. As for the little girl, she seemed to have come to the same conclusion as him. She was standing deadly still, probably _terrified_ , if the look on her face was any indication. The shade had been scared too, _the first time_. However, now, pure fury radiated from him. He hated her, _loathed her_!

How could she come after shackling them up on a wall again? _How could she_?

The ghost’s rage intensified even more as he clenched his teeth. Why? _Why would she do that again_? When she had _explicitly_ said to him that she wanted to make things right this time? Then again, she had also said that everything had been his fault from the start…

He started yelling again, even more furious than before:

-“How _dare_ you!” the words left his mouth as he pulled on his restraints once again: “All this talk about how _mature_ you said you were compared to _me_! How better you wanted _everything_ to be!”

The ghost could feel his throat hurt from how dry it was. How long had he stayed unconscious? How long had it been since the last time he drank water? The anger quickly made him forget those thoughts as he continued screaming:

-“Well newsflash, _Vanessa_! You screwed _everything_ up! You’ll _never_ be the _mature_ person! You’re just a _heartless monster_!” he paused, and then scoffed almost for himself, though he knew very well she could hear him: “And _I_ was the liar? _Me_? _You_ were the liar all along!”

His body radiated heat the more he yelled, but the ghost purposely ignored it. _It wasn’t important_. Even though he could feel his body changing _from the inside_ , he was just _blinded_ by the fury and the resentment he had towards the Queen. Nothing else was important. Not even the cries on his right as he opened his mouth again:

-“And you know what’s _fun_?” he asked with a mix of bitterness and sarcasm: “You never took a good look at yourself! You destroyed _an entire village_ , killed _all its inhabitants_ , murdered your _dear fiance_ , and somehow it was _my fault_? You’re so full of yourself it’s _hilarious_!”

The spirit laughed, but it sounded terribly maniacal and insincere. His skin had changed colour, now purple like his ghostly form, yet his body remained tangible just like his human form. His face radiated a yellowish light and his mouth had changed, showing fangs instead of normal teeth.

Snatcher was livid and his body was reacting in consequence.

-“And you _actually thought_ I would love you _again_? Forget _everything that you did_ just because you created a _perfect_ little alternate reality?” The spirit laughed again, yet his laughter ended with a sad tone. A minute passed in silence, but he knew she was still there.

-“You never cared about me,” affirmed Snatcher bitterly: “All you cared about was the _idea_ of living the perfect princess life, falling in love, just like in a _fairytale_. But you were the villain all along, you were the unstable witch becoming crazy when something didn’t go your way!”

Snatcher stopped again, shutting his eyes hard and clenching his fists as he questioned in a desperate, loud voice:

-“ _Why_ are you still here?!” He demanded as his words resonated in the cellar, echoing all around him and the kid: “ _Go away_! If you want us to die here _so much_ , then _get lost_!”

He took a deep breath and screamed as much as he could, all his rage and fury fuelling his last words:

-“I hate you, Vanessa! I _loathe_ you! _Get lost_!”

Snatcher thought it would be enough. Snatcher really thought she would leave them alone to die, _just like she intended_ … But instead, he still felt her presence behind the door, as the air cooled down again. She wasn’t leaving. And then, after a few seconds, the door opened and a silhouette entered the room, holding something tight against her chest.

It was Vanessa, wearing her light green nightshirt. Her face was full of sadness and guilt, and she couldn’t bear looking at the ghost in the eyes.

And, in her hands, was the brat’s magical hat.

[Erekio](https://soundcloud.com/valerianne-feuillet) · [Snatcher's Monologue (voice acting by Puyo-Proto)](https://soundcloud.com/valerianne-feuillet/snatchers-monologue/s-eChhdhFioEQ)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gosh I LOVE writing cliffhangers :)  
> ALSO DON’T FORGET TO LISTEN TO PUYO-PROTO’S VOICE ACTING, IT’S AMAZING AAAAH ! It's here : https://erekiosuncreativeideas.tumblr.com/post/618118624268468224/major-spoilers-for-the-chapter-18-of-reliving-an
> 
> See you on the next chapter ! :D


	19. “Trust me, you don’t deserve it.”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Snatcher and Vanessa have a little talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NEW CHAPTER !!  
> I hope you'll like it !
> 
> Thank you so much for all your comments ! I need to reply to them, but I've read them, several times ! I'm so happy you like this fanfiction so much ! I'll reply to them later because I'm really sick right now (might be a really painful throat infection, I have no idea), but know that I really wanted to thank you all for your lovely comments !! You have no idea how much it motivates me !
> 
> You can find more of my art here : https://erekiosuncreativeideas.tumblr.com/
> 
> Happy reading !

Snatcher’s eyes widened as he saw Vanessa entering the room, dressed in her green nightshirt. Guilt was clearly visible on her face as she avoided the shade’s eyes, staring at the floor instead. And, in her hands was the kid’s hat, completely undamaged. But something felt wrong, _different_ … And it didn’t take long for the ghost to notice _why_ : the Queen’s hands looked very much different than human ones. The skin was black and her fingers had gotten thinner, _sharper_. The tips of her fingers ended much more like claws than regular nails, all black as well. Those hands seemed like they belonged to a monster rather than a person.

And Vanessa having these claws only made the spirit panic. It was like before, just like back then, when she-

The Queen looked up once again and met his eyes for the first time. Snatcher’s breath got caught in his throat as numerous memories kept appearing in his mind, almost blinding him. It was too much, _too much_ … He had hoped his words would make her leave but now he felt extremely vulnerable, especially with him incapacitated and her having hands like these. Knowing Vanessa was behind the door was one thing, but… Seeing her in person, with those claws, while he was unable to move… This was _not_ the same.

Just like the little girl to his side, Snatcher was absolutely _terrified_. Yet, there was something strange about the expression on Vanessa’s face. And as he stared at her silently, he could feel that her attitude wasn’t the same as before. On the contrary, instead of glaring at him, she seemed… Embarrassed? _Ashamed_?

Vanessa had _never_ looked this way before. At least, not in a _sincere_ way.

The woman made a few steps towards them and Snatcher could feel his whole body tensing up immediately. She was going to hurt him, wasn’t she? She was going to freeze him to death, he was sure of it! He couldn’t go through all of this _again_!

And then he heard a scared whimper on his right, which suddenly reminded him of the brat’s presence. Said brat was doing her best to get far, _far away_ from the Queen, in vain. Shackled to the wall like she was, there was absolutely no way she could protect herself against the spirit’s evil ex. The kid was _just as much_ in danger than he was. Maybe _more_ , because why would Vanessa care about a child she didn’t even know?

Snatcher would _not_ allow it.

The spirit gritted his teeth (fangs?) and hissed at Vanessa menacingly. Even if he still had a semi-human body now, he hoped to seem threatening enough to dissuade his ex from coming closer. He still didn’t have his powers, he couldn’t feel the usual energy inside of his chest, _but she didn’t know that_. Luckily for Snatcher, he was an _excellent actor_.

-“Don’t you _dare_ take another step,” he growled, baring his fangs and almost not recognizing his own voice. He felt like he had been human for _so long_ that he almost forgot how his voice sounded like as a ghost. It had only been a few days, but it was already _too much_.

Surprisingly enough, Vanessa listened to him and stopped. She winced at the tone of his voice and glanced away once again. _What_? The shade was utterly confused by her behaviour. She had _lied_ to him and _yelled_ at him _a few hours ago_! And now she was acting like she felt _bad_? _Why_?! This didn’t make any sense!

Seconds passed in deafening silence. The shade really expected her to attack them at any moment but she remained motionless, waiting patiently. He had thought she would glare at the kid but she didn’t. On the contrary, she had given her a sorry look, instead of looking daggers at the brat. She always used to do that when they were alive, when someone got a little too close to him, though he had always tried his best to ignore it.

_Then what was going on_? Why wasn’t she reacting badly to the kid? Her anger about himself, he wouldn’t be surprised, but the child had been caught _with him_! Why wasn’t she mad about them trying to escape too? He didn’t understand!

The shade was about to ask what were her true intents but was cut short when she started to speak, breaking the silence that had fallen into the cellar:

-“I’m sorry,” she murmured, clenching her fingers on the hat she was holding. Her expression was full of a guilt Snatcher had never seen on her. The apology hit Snatcher like a train: Vanessa… Never apologized. She had done so in the last few days yet it had never been this _formal_.

Something was _different_. Snatcher’s fear was soon replaced by his anger coming back full force, seeing as they apparently weren’t in immediate danger anymore:

-“You’re _sorry_?” he repeated, emphasizing the last word as if it were poisonous: “For _what_? Locking us in here? Keeping us trapped in this doomed timeline? For having _killed_ everyone?”

He scoffed bitterly and continued with a voice full of sarcasm:

-“You know, I’m starting to get confused, because you haven’t done a _single_ good thing since the moment we came here!” he paused and then corrected himself, darkly: “No, actually, that’s _wrong_. You haven’t done a single good thing _since the moment I met you._ ”

The words clearly had an effect on Vanessa, as she looked away once more, while the air around them cooled down. Maybe the spirit should have kept his mouth shut, considering how vulnerable they were against the Ice Queen. But to the ghost’s extreme bewilderment, she only looked upset and not angry at his claims.

Eventually, she started talking again, staring at her shoes as tears rolled on her cheeks:

-“You’re right. I haven’t.” The shade’s eyes widened at her words, as she continued: “I failed, I did _everything_ wrong. Every possible mistake there was to make, _I made it_. And… I’m sorry. For everything.”

Snatcher couldn’t believe it. He _didn’t want_ to believe it. What was she even _saying_? Did she even realize how much it was _too late_ for this? Subcon Village had been _destroyed_ , everyone had been _killed_ , and she had _murdered_ him! And after hundreds of years spent in pure denial, she was _apologizing_ to him? This was absolutely _ridiculous_!

_Oh no_ , _no_ , this wouldn’t be that easy for her, he didn’t want it to be. And yet, he had wanted a “sorry” for so, _so long_ …

-“Are you even _hearing_ yourself talking right now?” questioned the spirit, both livid and astonished at the same time: “It’s _too late_! You can’t change anything!” He then pointed to his shackles with a nod of his head: “Even _this_! What’s the point of _apologizing_ if you just want us _dead_?! Is it because you want to feel better about yourself?”

He scoffed again before glaring at her, his eyes full of hatred:

-“Trust me, you _don’t_ deserve it.”

Vanessa lowered her head as more tears left her eyes. Her fingers squeezed the hat she was holding, not moving an inch. She was doing her best not to cry, which only confused Snatcher even more: why would she hold back? It wasn’t like she had tried the other times in the last few days! Was she trying to appear pitiful so he could feel sorry for her? The spirit frowned at the thought in disgust. She _was_ pitiful but he would never, _never_ feel sorry for her. Never, not after what she had done and what she was trying to do in the present.

After a few seconds, the Queen rubbed her eyes with her sleeve and sniffed loudly.

She then asked, looking at him with despair:

-“I want to believe you, I _really_ do… About all of this being fake,” she confessed, closing her eyes: “I want to do the right thing _for once_ , but… How can I know you’re telling the truth?”

Contrary to their other arguments, Vanessa seemed truly sincere. He could see in her expression that she was actually asking him and not fighting his claims as she did in the previous hours. However, that didn’t change the fact that she was still trying to keep the situation as it was, no matter how horrible it was. Who chained their former lover in their basement?! And chaining a _child_ with them?

Snatcher gritted his fangs while the hatless kid was completely silent and motionless, afraid of what was happening. _The ghost didn’t blame her_.

He then nodded to himself and then to Vanessa’s hands, feeling his frustration growing dangerously.

-“Do we look _human_ to you?” he questioned back, fiercely: “Does it strike you as something _real_? Because it _certainly_ doesn’t for me. Just _use your head_ for once!”

The Queen lowered his eyes to glance at her own hands before looking away, as if she had been trying to ignore this as much as possible.

-“He told me… He told me it was only temporary…” The spirit’s ex tried to justify herself, but Snatcher would not stand hearing her excuses. No more. _No more of that_.

-“Oh yeah? And then what’s going to happen? Everything is going to turn back to normal _as if nothing had ever happened_? Is _that_ what this guy told you? How much _naive_ can you be, Vanessa?”

She frowned at his remark but didn’t try to argue this point. It probably meant she already knew something was wrong. She was just too desperate and blatantly refused to see the truth. And it was all the shade needed to prove his point:

-“You _know_ he’s lying to you. You’ve seen those distortions too. So what do you need to finally see that you’re being manipulated? Do I need _to die_ again because you’re deluding yourself?! _Is that it_?!”

-“No!” retorted Vanessa with a scream, only to quickly put her hands over her mouth. She then looked all around herself, as if she was scared about something. Or… _Someone_.

The realization then hit Snatcher: Vanessa probably hadn’t told “Simeon” she was there. But _why_?

-“Why are you here, Vanessa?” finally asked the spirit, calmly this time: “What do you want from me?”

The Ice Queen remained silent a few seconds, cringing as if she was confused herself by her presence here. She eventually found back the courage to answer the shade, starting to sob:

-“Why does this have to be fake?” she wondered aloud as she cried even more: “Why couldn’t I _fix_ everything? I just want us to be _happy_ , like before!”

Her last sentence hurt Snatcher much more than what he had expected. Not because he was pitying her, _far from it_ , but because… The ghost hadn’t been really happy when he was alive, now that he was thinking about it. Yes, he had been madly in love with Vanessa, wanting nothing more than to live with her for the rest of his life (which he finally did, _HAH_ ), yet… There had been so many red flags, so many little things that had made this relationship extremely toxic for him. Whether it was Vanessa bleaching and cutting his hair, forbidding his favourite dish in the manor, preventing him from talking to other people… It had been _so_ suffocating, yet he had been so blindly in love with her that he had never said anything against it. Or, well, he _had_ tried, only to have Vanessa yelling at him afterwards.

He had never been happy. The bad things had outweighed the good ones, more and more as time went by. He just loved her too much to care about it at the time.

Sorrow replaced his anger as he looked at her, right in her eyes:

-“You know it’s too late,” he replied, seeing her face contort with sadness as she heard his words: “It doesn’t work like that.”

-“Then what should I do to make you forgive me?!” she cried out, though more quietly than before. It was obvious she wanted to be redeemed, but how could someone be forgiven after the murder of an entire village _over a small misunderstanding_?

Vanessa’s words presented him an opportunity to take advantage of her despair, telling her he would forgive her if she freed them… Yet, for an unknown reason, Snatcher couldn’t. He felt like this was his only chance at making his ex realize that she had to take responsibility for her behaviour. Deep inside of him, he knew he would _never_ get a chance like this again.

For the very first time in both their life and afterlife, Vanessa was ready to listen to him.

Snatcher lowered his head. But would she understand?

-“There’s nothing you can do,” he answered with a sad tone: “You can’t do things just so I can forgive you. It doesn’t work like that.”

-“… So you won’t forgive me?” Vanessa seemed heartbroken, though he had expected that with his answer.

-“I don’t think I ever will. Not if you refuse to change.”

The woman remained silent for a minute, visibly doing her best not to cry more. But soon, she was sobbing again, as Snatcher and the hatless kid were watching her. There was nothing they could do and, even if there was, it wasn’t their job.

Vanessa was the one who needed to change, by her own will, not because of someone else. She needed to understand that her actions had consequences and that it wasn’t always possible to erase the past. _Both figuratively and literally_.

Eventually, after a few more minutes, she calmed herself down, taking deep breathes. The shade had expected her to leave after the conclusion of their discussion, but Vanessa did something else entirely. She reached inside the top hat and took something out of it. It was a small and shiny object that the shade recognized instantly.

The key of those shackles.

-“W-what…?” stuttered the spirit, extremely confused by the recent turns of the events.

Vanessa sniffed again and nodded, a new determination replacing the melancholy on her face.

-“Okay,” she murmured, taking a few more steps towards them: “I trust you.”

The Queen then approached the key and put it inside the lock, opening Snatcher shackles one by one, leaving the spirit absolutely confused but relieved at the same time.

_Vanessa had listened to him_. For the first time, she had accepted to trust him. This realization brought him a strange feeling of satisfaction, of comfort. He couldn’t help but feel like a huge weight had disappeared from his tired shoulders, a weight he had carried for centuries without even knowing it had been there in the first place.

Vanessa then freed the kid next to him, who seemed much more reassured now that Vanessa had agreed to help them. The woman apologized to the little girl, telling her she was sorry for keeping her locked in here.

In the meantime, the shade rubbed at his wrist nervously, trying his best to ignore the sensation left on his purple “skin”. Somehow, he felt like the shackles were still there, even though they had been taken off.

He had no idea if it was because of his trauma coming back at him… Or if it was just his body returning more and more to his spectral form. After all, he had often felt the shackles on his wrists, even centuries after his death… He stared at his hands, not knowing what to think.

... _His body hurt so much_.

Snatcher’s thoughts were cut short as the kid tugged his cape gently. The way she was staring at him showed how worry she was for him.

-“You okay, Snatcher?” asked the little girl, concerned.

Vanessa stared at them, not knowing what to do with herself. The ghost couldn’t tell if she was confused about their relationship or the way the child called him. He doubted his ex had learnt he had thrown his old identity through the window, so the latter possibility made sense. She didn’t ask anything about it, though.

-“I’m fine,” answered Snatcher, yet he wasn’t. But he didn’t want to think about it at the moment. All he wanted was to get out of this timeline, _once and for all_.

He turned back to Vanessa, very much determined with this last thought:

-“So… Who’s the guy behind Simeon?” he questioned.

They needed to know their enemy before doing anything else. They were going to escape this time rift, _Snatcher would make sure of it_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked this chapter ! I'll try writing the 22th chapter if my throat gets better. I doubt it will but I think the 22th chapter will be finished soon so... If the inspiration comes tonight, I'll write a little bit !


	20. “Alistel is back! He’s alive again! So I should be happy! Right?”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We get to know more about the origin of the time rift. And maybe another element which is probably irrelevant. Or not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, what do you know, another chapter, yaaay !  
> Also, I added more than 2000 words to this chapter today, so it's almost the longest one. Not quite, but almost.
> 
> Anyway, happy reading !

The manor was silent and the air was glacial, just like usual. It was dark, as always. The lonely Queen was in the kitchen, sitting at the dining table. A plate of frozen cookies was just in front of her, completely uneatable. _She had done it again_.

Vanessa stared at her monstrous hands then to her horrifying shadow visible on the wall. She gritted her teeth as her claws left marks on the wooden table. It was all _his_ fault!

She hated him. But _oh_ , she also _loved_ him so, _so much_. She knew it didn’t make much sense but it was _okay_. _Everything was fine_. Her Prince had abandoned her for years but he would eventually come back to her. She was sure that, one day, he would come back and apologize for _everything_ he had done to her. He would beg for her pardon. Alistel just refused to see the truth, for now, that was all.

Vanessa wasn’t hungry anymore. She barely was nowadays.

With a swift gesture, Vanessa threw the plate on the wall, hitting the place where her shadow was. She stood up abruptly, making the chair slide loudly on the brown tiles of the kitchen. A sudden rush of rage filled her, without knowing why exactly. But it could only be her Prince’s fault. _It was always his fault_. He was the one who had been seeing another woman, lying to her all this time, _using her_ …

Now she was alone and it was _so much better_!

_It wasn’t_ , but she tried to believe it anyway. She still longed to see her stubborn lover everyday, wishing he would come back home. Why was he so persistent of staying away from her when they were clearly made to be together? Why couldn’t he see it? She knew they were!

The Queen let out an animalistic growl. She supposed she could only wait for him to realize his past mistakes and take responsibility for it. How long, though? It had been _hundreds of years_ and her dear fiance still hadn’t come back…

The woman huffed and puffed at the broken plate on the floor and to the impact the shock had made on the wall. She didn’t want to deal with it at the moment… In fact, she didn’t want to deal with anything. The Queen left the room, dragging her feet in the manor until she reached her bedroom on the second floor. She wasn’t tired but there wasn’t anything to do when she felt this depressed.

She opened the door and simply lied on the bed, without caring much about undressing. She wouldn’t fall asleep anyway, so what was the point? The Queen just put her twisted shadowy body under the warm covers, hunching her back even more as she did so. She could feel her bones cracking at the movement. Then… She just waited. At least, her dear precious fiance would see her in her dreams if she managed to fall asleep…

Vanessa didn’t expect it to be _that_ easy. But soon, her consciousness drifted away as her body relaxed little by little. When she opened her red eyes again, a few hours later, she felt refreshed for a reason she couldn’t quite place. Her nap had been lively, as she could remember dreaming about something… _Wonderful_. But she didn’t remember, so it didn’t matter anymore. What mattered now was that she was back in this icy manor, _alone_ , without her loved one to keep her company, _even from the basement_.

However, when she sat on the bed, she noticed something on the nightstand, _something which hadn’t been there when she fell asleep_. It was a page of her old diary, which had been ripped off. The said page was already full of her writing. Yet, something felt _off_ : _why_ was it here? She frowned, already thinking of one of the possibilities: did someone _dare_ come into her home? A familiar feeling of anger engulfed her: _who_ would come to her manor and mess with _her_? She had no intention of letting the reckless idiot leave… _Not alive anyway_.

But as she clenched the piece of paper with rage, she suddenly realized that something has been written vertically on the edge of the page. The Queen squitted to read it, yet it was a bit too dark to decipher it. She could at least recognize her handwriting, but… _She had never written that_. And there was no way she would forget something like this!

Very much startled by what she had discovered, the Queen looked clumsily into her nightstand for some matchsticks, making most of them fall onto the floor. Once she held one firmly, she lit the candle next to her and brought the paper closer to the light to read whatever was written on the paper.

However, what she read was very different than everything she was expecting :

“ _Dear Queen Vanessa, you do not know me yet, but I know you are in great pain. I am offering my services to help you get what you wish the most. Especially **who** you wish the most. If you are interested, please leave several blank pieces of paper on your nightstand and I will describe how I might help the next time you go to sleep. If, on the contrary, you do not want my help, you just have to burn this page. In that case, I will not contact you ever again. I hope this note finds you well._”

This was all. The woman turned the page over but there were no other message hidden on the opposite side. Her eyes stared at the note in bewilderment: this was clearly a message from _someone_ , but this was her _handwriting_. Did someone try to imitate it? But _what for_? And _who_?

Though, that wasn’t what was occupying the Queen’s mind. The person who wrote this message clearly _knew_ something about her relationship with Alistel. Who were they? A feeling of anger and frustration settled over her as she tried to guess in vain. She had killed _everyone_ , there was no one left who could have given her such a message…

_Except for Alistel himself_. He knew her handwriting, he knew where she used to keep her diary… But _why_? This didn’t make any sense.

But it didn’t matter anyway. It was all a joke, wasn’t it? If Alistel was the one who wrote that note… Vanessa was sure he just wanted to mess with her. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have left after putting the message on her nightstand.

So the woman did the only thing which seemed reasonable at the moment: she held the note out to the fire, ready to follow the instructions on the note if it meant Alistel wouldn’t try to prank her. She wanted her prince to come back and apologize, _not_ to mess with her.

But just before the fire could reach the page, Vanessa stopped. Her arm remained completely motionless, holding the piece of paper in the air. She wanted to burn it, she wanted to _destroy_ this joke… Yet she was unable to. While the rational part of her brain thought her hesitation was _stupid_ , the other part of her mind couldn’t help but formulate a small and quiet “ _what if_?”. What would happen if she left more paper on her nightstand instead of burning the page? What would change?

Would Alistel come back to her? Could it be his way to reach her again?

A few seconds passed, silently, before the Queen lowered her arm, setting the page on the nightstand again. This was absolutely ridiculous, she didn’t even know _why_ she couldn’t destroy a single piece of paper! But she couldn’t ignore the feeling of _hope_ emerging in her. She frowned at all her conflicting thoughts, not knowing what to do with herself now. She felt both nervous and excited at the same time, thinking about the note.

Was it a joke? Or… _Was it true_? There was only one way to find out.

Vanessa got up, stretching her old body, hearing more and more cracks as she did so. The first thing she did after getting up was fetching a few blank pages and putting them on her nightstand, with a quill and ink. If this was true… Then ignoring such an opportunity was _out of the question_.

The “day” after seemed to last _centuries_ for the Queen. Well, it was _always_ nighttime in Subcon, due to Alistel’s… Bad influence on the forest. Still, she wanted it to be over as fast as possible so she could get answers. She spent the whole day being fidgety, walking in the corridors of her home just so she could occupy herself. There wasn’t much to do anyway and what she _could_ do was not enough to take her mind off the note.

She couldn’t wait to know. She _needed_ to know.

After an unbearable wait, the woman felt tired enough to go to bed once again. However, she was much too excited to fall asleep right away. She didn’t really know how many hours she had had to wait until she felt her consciousness drift away once again… But after a while, she relaxed and fell asleep.

Once more, she dreamt of something colourful she couldn’t remember when she woke up. Smudges of red, blue, and yellow were all she could recall. But it wasn’t really important to her once she came back to reality: what mattered was the pages on the nightstand. And, just like she had expected, a longer message had been written on the previously blank pages. She immediately lighted up the candle next to her and started to read:

“ _I am glad to see you are interested in my help. Just like I promised, here is how I can assist you: there is a powerful artefact in Subcon Forest, which comes from a world far, far away from ours. It looks like a gigantic and broken hourglass, which pieces have been scattered all around the forest. Such an artefact can be used to rewind time, from mere seconds to centuries._ ”

Vanessa’s eyes widened at the words. An object that could rewind time? This… Couldn’t be true, _could it_? Was Alistel just messing with her again? Yet, she had the feeling deep inside that her prince wasn’t the one behind this.

_This wasn’t like him_. No matter how much he had possibly changed through all those years without her good influence… Such words would certainly not come from him. But then… _Whose_ words were these? She continued reading, feeling her nervousness replacing her previous excitement:  
  


“ _However, broken like it is, it is perfectly useless. It simply stays unmoving, untouched by the effect of time itself. But there is a way to fix it. If every part of the hourglass is taken back to its core, the artefact should reform. It is currently huge, but it will shrink back to its normal size. Once it is back to its former shape, I will be able to help you. But… Be careful._ ”

Vanessa gulped as she read the last sentences, feeling her hands shake from the emotions engulfing her at the explanations:

“ _Do **not** break it again. Otherwise, it will be permanently broken and **unusable**. You do not want that, do you? Once it is complete again, bring it back to the manor, on your nightstand. I will then take care of everything for you. You will not have to worry about a single thing._”

The note ended here. Once again, Vanessa examined the pages thoroughly, but didn’t find any other message. She remained motionless for a few minutes, her eyes fixed on the note before her. Could it be true? Would she be able to fix all of Alistel’s mistakes if she followed the instructions?

Given how _stubborn_ her prince was about accepting his responsibilities… She didn’t have much of a choice, did she? Maybe she could help him to realize that his place was with her, _an not with anyone else_.

She nodded to herself, before putting the notes back on the nightstand. She stared into space as her mind filled itself with many thoughts. An artefact in Subcon Forest? Pieces scattered all around? She thought about it, imagining all the ways she could use to find them. She couldn’t fetch them in person… Alistel wouldn’t let her cross the broken bridge. However… She still had some ice statues obeying her, even in her fiance’s part of the forest.

This was her only possibility.

She nodded once again, speaking aloud just in case the person helping her would be able to hear her words:

-“I will find those shards and bring the artefact to you once it’s fixed,” she promised, closing her eyes as she spoke.

And sending the ice statues was what she did. Most were successful, others… Not so much. But after a few days, the animated objects managed to bring all the pieces back to the core. She had instructed her statues to be extremely careful with the hourglass, yet she couldn’t help but be a nervous mess at the thought of breaking her only chance of seeing Alistel again.

However, contrary to her fears, one of the ice statues came back, the artefact in his strong and hard hands. It had knocked on the front door and the Queen had rushed to take the object as fast as she could. She then did her best to stay calm, to avoid stupid risks. What would she do if the hourglass hit the floor and broke? She didn’t want all her efforts and hopes to go to waste!

Vanessa looked at the hourglass, filled with wonder at the sight of the shiny artefact. It was filled with a glowy kind of sand. Though, when she saw her reflection on the glass, she stopped examining it. She didn’t want to see herself. _Not with her current appearance_.

Filled with a whole new determination, she came back to her room with a light skip, too much excited to hold herself back. She hadn’t been so _happy_ since… Since… She didn’t want to think about it. She wouldn’t let her memories ruin how _relieved_ and _joyful_ she felt at the moment!

She entered her room and exclaimed excitedly:

-“I have it!” she said, lifting the hourglass as she continued: “I did it!” But no one was there to answer her. Of course, her _secret helper_ could only talk to her while she was sleeping, right? This was okay. All she needed to do was to go to bed and wait for her body to relax. She could do that!

She gently put the hourglass down on the table near her bed and lied under the cover. She was much too excited to fall asleep but she knew it would happen anyway. In the meantime, she simply imagined what would happen once she would wake up. Oh, _she just couldn’t wait_! She found herself _smiling_ and _giggling_ under the cover, like a child waiting for Christmas. She was so _happy_ , so _overjoyed_!

She was going to see Alistel again… And everything would be back _just like before_.

Finally, after what seemed hours to Vanessa, she felt her mind slowly drifting towards unconsciousness. Just before falling in a deep sleep, she heard an evil laugh resonating in her head, as if she had just imagined it. But she was too tired to pay attention to it and _everything went black_.

When she woke up, she had all forgotten about the cruel laugh. She opened her eyes slowly and squinted not to be blinded by the light.

_The light_? Vanessa’s attention was immediately caught. It was _never_ daytime in Subcon.

She was sleeping in her bed but… It was _sunny_ outside. The Queen could hear _birds_ chirping, _people_ walking and talking quietly behind her door. She was in her room, just like it had been when everything was still _fine_.

_It had worked_!

She sat up instantly, looking all around her with wonder and amazement. How could this be possible? It was unimaginable! And yet, _it was happening_! A nervous and excited laugh escaped from her mouth as she examined _everything_. And then, she saw her hands, _human hands_ -

-“Oh…” Vanessa felt her eyes water at the realization. She brought one of her hands to her mouth to stop herself from crying… But all she felt was _more skin_ on her face. She touched every part of her head, trying to convince herself that this was real, _that she wasn’t dreaming_. She could feel her fingers touching hair, her soft _blonde_ hair! Her body was not _twisted_ anymore either!

She laughed gleefully as happy tears rolled on her cheeks: it had truly worked! She was _human_ again!

It is with this thought that she realized the most important thing: if she was human again, then… _Alistel was alive again too_.

As more tears left her eyes, she heard a soft knock on her bedroom door. The sudden noise made her jump and she stopped touching her face, bringing her hands down quickly. She remained hesitant for a few seconds before finding the courage to talk, _and her voice sounded so much more human now_!

-“Y-yes?”

The door opened, revealing a face very familiar to Vanessa. It was… Her family’s butler, back when she was alive. She recognized his salt and pepper hair, his uniform, his very straight posture… And the woman remembered his name too.

-“Simeon?” she asked, though very anxious. It had been _centuries_ since her last conversation with another _living being_ … How did one talk to someone else without looking _weird_?

The man came inside and closed the door behind him. He then smiled at her in a very gentle way and opened his mouth:

-“Not exactly, my Queen,” he replied, always smiling. The woman frowned in confusion but the man quickly added: “I may look like your old servant, yet I am a very different person. How are you feeling?”

This way of talking, his claims…! _She guessed who it was_. The man in front of her was not her old butler but _her secret helper_! Her eyes widened at the constatation and the other’s smile grew larger as he saw she finally understood.

-“G-good,” she answered, though speaking was a bit hard for the moment. It was too many emotions at the same time! But she did manage to ask the question that had been on her lips for a so long: “But… _Who_ are you?”

The “butler” nodded, visibly happy of her answer. He then closed his eyes and bowed down slightly in a very elegant manner, before properly introducing himself to her:

-“I am very happy to know I was able to help you, my Queen. As for who I am…”

The man opened his eyes once again, revealing red irises staring directly at her.

-“You may call me Moonjumper.”

* * *

Vanessa’s dreams had been extremely _colourful_ and _marvellous_ at first. Everything was so perfect! Her lover was brought back to life, his mistake had been fixed, she had even _forgiven him_! Everything could be _just like before_! The first day, she had spent hours looking herself into a mirror, changing dresses after dresses, loving how _human_ she looked like. She was amazed to walk in the manor, this house where she had been _so alone_ for years, and see her old servants, alive and well! No intruders she had to murder ( _because they deserved it of course_ ), but actual people who once were a part of her life!

Then she went outside, to explore the village, the _untouched and undamaged village_. There were so many people walking right next to her, their smells passing by, children running around while laughing! It was _surreal_. Everyone had been waving at her, smiling at her! She was being _loved_ again!

Somehow, this made the Queen feel extremely strange. It was like she felt relieved, yet she had no idea why at the time. Simeon, _or Moonjumper_ , had told her it might be quite a shock to see such a different version of the world she had come to know. So, with that in mind, she just assumed that she had this weird feeling because of that.

Her accomplice had also warned her about her emotions and what they could cause but why would he tell her such a thing? She only felt pure happiness at that particular moment! She was so overjoyed! Or, at least, that’s what she had believed until she saw a carriage passing right next to her.

Her eyes met _her prince’s_ , who was inside, and her heart almost stopped at the shock. It only lasted a second, as the carriage quickly faded in the distance, but it had a powerful effect for Vanessa. As for her, she only stood still, staring into space as her mind was full of conflicted thoughts. Seeing the face of her loved one took her by surprise but _why wasn’t she feeling so happy at the moment_? Why was she so _petrified_?

The Queen noticed a bit too late that she had stopped moving for a few minutes and that she had been hyperventilating. Her heartbeat was fast and she suddenly put her hands over her chest, trying to reassure herself. Apparently, no one noticed her standing in the middle of the way.

It was _fine_! Everything was _perfect_! She had fixed _everything_ Alistel did in the past! So _why_ was she feeling this way?

“ _I’m… I’m happy!_ ” she told herself as if she was reasoning with her own mind: “ _Alistel is back! He’s alive again! So I should be happy! Right?”_

Though, it didn’t make her feel any much better, as doubts engulfed her. He wouldn’t remember… _Would he_? She shook her head. No, of course, he wouldn’t! Simeon had told her everything would be _perfect_ , just like she had always wanted! She had the opportunity to make things better for Alistel this time! She would just shower him with even more love so he wouldn’t leave her for someone else!

And… Maybe close a flower shop or two before doing anything, _just in case_. No one would notice anything anyway. All that mattered now… Was her prince’s love for her and their “ _happy ever after_ ”. _Nothing else_.

She then proceeded to run in the direction of the manor, not noticing the small trail of ice she was leaving behind her.

* * *

Well… That was what she had thought at the time but it had been easier said than done. First of all… _Alistel remembered_. Not only that but he had remembered _everything_ , even after his death. At first, he had tried to fool her, though, for some reason, _Vanessa knew_. The way he looked at her, the way he avoided her touches or _her affectionate gestures_ … She knew he had to remember. And when she tried to confront him about this, it had only confirmed her deepest fears.

How could she fix all of his mistakes if he remembered? _What if he still wanted to leave her_?

Of course, the Queen had come right at Simeon the second she thought about it, but the man had just told her not to worry about it, that it would be solved soon. _But how_? How could it be solved? She had tried to explain her doubts once again, but… For the first time, her accomplice had stopped smiling and had _ordered_ her to stop mopping and _enjoy_ what he had done for her.

This should have _really_ made her think. _But it didn’t_. Maybe because she didn’t want to believe that something was wrong.

Then she had snapped at Alistel, only to be strongly reprimanded by her dear friend Simeon. The man who had made her come back to the past had changed his attitude with her so quickly… And somehow, she _still_ didn’t want to even think about the possibility of having been manipulated.

And then… _She had hurt her Prince_. It was an accident! But the injury was there to prove she had still done it. The way he _looked_ at her, _so afraid of her_ … It had made her come back to reality as she crumpled in apologies. _But it was still too late_. Guilt crushed her instantly and when Alistel’s parents came into the room… It was too much. All she could do was flee.

It was all she was good for, wasn’t she? _Fleeing. Hurting people_. Wasn’t it the reason her dear prince left her in the first place? But that thought quickly disappeared as she tried to push the guilty thoughts out of her mind. She was trying to fix things! _She couldn’t be the one at fault if she was fixing things_!

She spent the whole day crying in her room after that, only to learn a few hours later that her loved one had left her once again. It should have crushed her feelings even more but somehow, it only made her _livid_. How dared he leave her again? After _everything_ she did to make things right again!

But of course, he came back to her, just like she had expected. But he _still_ didn’t understand. He would _never_ understand, would he? They argued once again, only for Simeon to interrupt them and send Alistel away to scold her once more.

For a moment, she had felt like her _mother_ was standing right in front of her. It only made her feel bad about her new outburst. New thoughts of guilt invaded her mind: “ _I’m just a failure, aren’t I?_ ”, “ _it’s wrong, it’s all wrong, what are you doing?_ ” or, the worst one, “ _he’s never going to love you again_ ”.

But _why_? Everything she did had been _right_! Except, the more she tried to convince herself, the _faker_ it sounded to her. And the distortions she had seen everywhere only intensified her fears about Alistel being right. But once again, she shut those thoughts up. Simeon also assured her it was only temporary, that time travel was an unstable process… So Alistel _couldn’t_ be right! If he was, then… Then she had done _terrible things_ for _nothing_. But it didn’t matter, because what she did had been _justified_!

Except it hadn’t been.

The dinner she had with Alistel only made things worse. She didn’t want to believe him! _Everything couldn’t be fake_! She hadn’t been manipulated! Those were all desperate thoughts she had when Alistel argued with her, again. She didn’t want everything to be _fake_! So she had another outburst, _demanding_ him to _leave_ , because she couldn’t stand looking at his _disappointed_ face anymore.

_He didn’t love her anymore_. No matter what she would do… _He hated her_.

The realization hit her with an extreme violence, making her cry more than she thought it would. But it was just the worst thing she could have ever thought about. She cried and cried _and cried_ , only to be interrupted by Simeon.

-“Everything is going to be okay,” he had said to her, rubbing her shoulder in a way that _was way too nice_ for someone who had snapped at her a few hours earlier. But Vanessa didn’t care. All she wanted at the moment was comfort, to hear she wasn’t the reason her dear prince hated her. Simeon said nothing else, just smiled at her and sent her to her room so she could “rest”. She just nodded, giving up any hopes for comfort as she stood up and went to her bedroom.

And then, she cried herself to sleep.

* * *

Vanessa’s dreams were not _happy_ and _peaceful_ anymore. The more time had passed, the worst her dreams had become. This night was no exception. However, when screams woke her up from her current nightmare, echoing in the entire manor, the Queen panicked, absolutely taken aback. She sat up in her bed, confused, but it hit her after a few seconds.

_Those screams were Alistel’s_. She could recognize them perfectly _because they sounded like the ones when-_

“ _Oh no. Oh no no no no no!_ ”

Fear engulfed her and she jumped out of her bed. _Why_? _How_?

She didn’t take the time to dress up and left her room, still wearing her nightshirt. The Queen ran to the stairs, only to be stopped as a figure crossed her path. _Simeon_.

-“May I know where you are going?” asked the fake butler, wearing an awful smile that only made Vanessa’s fears and emotions worse. Her body was becoming colder and colder as mixed feelings such as confusion, fear, anxiousness and anger were fighting for dominance in her mind. Anger won in a blink.

-“ _What_ did you do?” countered the woman, _livid_. She hadn’t planned this! _She hadn’t wanted any of this to happen again_!

Her accomplice’s smile widened at her question as if it were just a game for him. He let out a malevolent scoff and he answered, with a light and innocent tone:

-“Nothing!” Alistel’s screams echoed in the manor once again and he had to continue: “Oh, you mean _this_?”

-“Don’t you dare play dumb with me!” yelled the Queen, feeling her hands grow colder and colder again. Her own scream resonated in the hallway as a light layer of ice materialized on the wall next to her. The Queen jumped and stared at the wall, horrified. She didn’t mean for this to happen!

She glanced at her own hands, guilty, only to notice that _they didn’t look human anymore_.

-“Wh-what?” mumbled Vanessa, as she stared at her hands in bewilderment and confusion. She glanced back up to Simeon, who didn’t seem surprised. He hadn’t even been troubled by her outburst!

-“I told you to keep your emotions under control,” reprimanded the fake butler as if he were talking to a child: “Go back to sleep, it’ll be gone in the morning.”

Vanessa could see how he was trying to keep her from going down to the basement. It was just painfully obvious!

-“Move,” she warned, as she tried to walk next to him, only to be stopped by his arm taking hers, preventing her from moving further.

-“No, I think _you_ should listen to me,” retorted her friend, with a fake friendly tone, very much threatening: “Your _dear prince_ tried to destroy everything _we_ worked for. He has even been helped by a little girl!” the man laughed at the ridiculous situation: “Well, she almost got me, so she’s not that defenceless. Thankfully, I took her hat away, so she’s no threat to us now.”

He paused and continued, as Vanessa was trying to process what she had just heard:

-“I just put them in the cellar for the night, _don’t worry_ ,” he tried to reassure her, though all his words seemed fake: “It’ll all be better in the morning! Go back to sleep, _now_.”

Hearing about her loved one trying to leave once again… The Queen felt her emotions engulfed her once more, as the air cooled down again around them. He tried to leave her again?

Guilt was crushing her, ten times worse than all she had felt in the last few days. Her body was shaking now and she was hyperventilating again. The only thing taking her back to reality was the moment Simeon put his hands on her trembling shoulders.

-“Come on, _Vanessa_. It’s going to be okay, I _promise_ ,” said her accomplice with a sweet little voice: “ _Trust me_. I promise everything will be back to normal tomorrow!” Then, he added with an evil voice: “Or are you going _to keep destroying all the things I made for you_? Is _this_ what you’re going to do?”

The words hit Vanessa like a train. _She wasn’t a failure_! She wasn’t! She just wanted to make things right!

Tears started to appear on her face as she simply nodded her head, unconvinced by his claims. How could everything be back to normal after _this_? Alistel would _never_ forgive her.

_He had never forgiven her anyway_.

-“Good!” exclaimed the man, smiling again: “Let me take you back to your room, then!”

Simeon guided her back to her room, while she simply obeyed, devastated by everything happening around her. And when she heard her prince’s screams echoing in the mansion again…

She knew she couldn’t delude herself anymore. She _had_ to do something, even if it had to be in Simeon’s back. She had always wanted to fix everything, only to hurt more and more people in the process… And now, she had an opportunity to make things right. A real opportunity to fix not Alistel’s mistakes, _but hers_.

_She couldn’t lie to herself anymore_.


	21. “We’re not done with this.”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A plan is starting to form.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter ! I hope you'll like it !  
> I'm currently working on the 23rd chapter and I decided to post the 21th chapter, since I think I'll work on it pretty quickly + I already drew 3 pictures for the future chapters. More are to come too !
> 
> Thank you so much for your support, it helps me so much !!  
> Also, yeah, the more I think about it, the more I want to write a sequel, so... Stay tuned :) I have so many ideas and they will all destroy you.
> 
> You can find me on my Tumblr : https://erekiosuncreativeideas.tumblr.com/  
> Don't hesitate to check it out, as I post multiple updates on it !
> 
> Happy reading !

Snatcher stared at Vanessa, astonished about what she had just told them. The hatted brat was looking at her with the same expression, perhaps even judgier than his. She couldn’t be serious… _Could she_? Did she just tell them she had believed a _complete stranger_ and _obeyed him_ without having any doubts about his own intentions?

He had always thought the Queen was naive… But this was not _being naive_ , this was _being absolutely stupid_!

-“So… You just _did_ what he suggested without thinking that maybe, _just maybe_ , it _might_ be a bad idea?” questioned the ghost, not wanting to believe Vanessa’s claims. But seeing how _desperate_ she had seemed to be after his death, he wasn’t really surprised that she had accepted the first deal that had been offered to her. And, as a master in trickery himself, it was obvious that this “Moonjumper” had wanted something from her, surely using the Queen as a means to get the Time Piece.

But why would he go through the trouble of creating a _whole new reality_ with it? This seemed rather counter-productive…

-“It was stupid, I know!” countered Vanessa, shutting her eyes hard and clenching her fists. Still, even if she had realized how _foolish_ it had been, it was still _too late_. However, they didn’t have the time to bicker. He would still be able to do so once they were out of this collapsing world. Now, they had to act.

The kid added her own element to the discussion:

-“That guy lied…”

-“Well, _no kidding_! What was your first clue?” cut short Snatcher in a very sarcastic tone, only to receive a fierce glare from the little girl. Okay, no more interruption, he didn’t want to get hit by her umbrella again, _not in this form at least_.

-“No, I mean…!” she groaned, frustrated, and turned her head to the Queen: “I _know_ how Time Pieces work. They’re-

-“ _Time Pieces_?” asked Vanessa, apparently oblivious to the kid’s clear dislike of being interrupted. Though, said kid only sighed in defeat. Well, to the woman’s defence, she had no idea how this time stuff worked either. Blaming her would be quite ironic, seeing how Snatcher barely understood it himself. The little girl eventually started to explain the origin of the hourglasses with more details:

-“That hourglass you picked? It’s a Time Piece. It’s a magic artefact used by people like me - _I’m from another planet, by the way_. My spaceship crashed a few weeks ago. Anyway, they have the power to go back in time if you break them.”

Confusion was clearly visible everywhere on the Queen’s face. Snatcher had _never_ seen her that unsettled by a topic before. If the circumstances were different, it would have been _hilarious_ to him. In any case, her expression wasn’t that surprising, considering her lack of knowledge she had on the subject. Plus, it was _a lot_ to take in. But a particular part of the girl’s explanation caught her attention:

-“Wait, but… He told me that breaking it would make it unusable…” murmured Vanessa softly, as if she couldn’t believe she had been manipulated that easily once again.

-“ _That’s why_ I’m saying he lied to you. If you had just broken it yourself, you could have gotten back to the past very easi-”

The shade shot her a powerful dirty look, which instantly silenced the small child. The meaning was clear: “ _don't give her any more ideas!_ ” and the little girl understood it very well. She stepped away, pretending to look somewhere else with interest, as the adults started to talk again.

-“We’re not done with this,” he warned Vanessa, before asking her another question about their common enemy: “Anyway, you said he had contacted you while you were sleeping, right?”

His ex nodded and it only confirmed one of Snatcher’s theories. It had emerged in his mind as soon as she had mentioned this detail. He rubbed his chin, thinking about it. H _e knew he was right about this_.

-“Alright, I think I know what happened. I’m pretty sure that guy possessed you in your sleep.”

Being a ghost himself, the shade knew how those things worked. He had already possessed many people in the past and everything _just made sense_. Vanessa had had colourful and enjoyable dreams, and then had woken up to notes she hadn’t written. _But what if she had_? What if she had been possessed by that evil spirit who made her write those things in her sleep? He couldn’t see any other explanations. The guy had certainly hidden his presence in her mind by creating perfect dreams so she could remain asleep as long as possible. And after that… _An asleep body was just a perfect and docile puppet_.

Vanessa gasped in horror as she curled up a little, visibly tensed and ill at ease:

-“W-what?” She shuddered in disgust at the simple thought of it.

Her reaction was a bit surprising to the shade: this scenario made _perfect sense_ to him and the fact that his ex hadn’t even thought about it… Well, it only showed how _hopeless_ she had been. In fact, she had been the _perfect target_. What could be better to an evil spirit than a _helpless victim_? The ghost was well placed to know that.

Then again, the big question remained: _why_? This spirit didn’t even know them! So _why_ would he bother creating a perfect dimension for Vanessa? It certainly wasn’t out of generosity, given the way he had threatened her several times… Why didn’t he take the Time Piece and left with it? Why didn’t he pick up the shards by himself?

This guy had ulterior motives.

-“Uh, guys?” interjected a little voice next to them. Both the spirit and his ex turned towards the hatted girl, who was watching them with worry.

-“What?” replied Snatcher, unhappy to have been interrupted in his inner monologue. He glared once more at the child, yet the expression quickly faded away when he noticed the way she was staring at them. She nervously pointed at him and at Vanessa’s hands as she started to speak again:

-“I think we don’t have much time left,” she noted and continued: “The rift is going to collapse soon.”

Vanessa tilted her head and gave a curious and nervous look to the child:

-“How do you know that?” interrogated the Queen.

The child then explained what she had previously told Snatcher. She detailed how unstable time rifts worked and that the more unstable they got, the weirder the dimension became. She added that an unstable time rift would do anything to protect living beings over unimportant details. And since their bodies were affected…

Snatcher’s experience in the bathroom of the manor came back to his mind: his shadow had had trouble keeping its human form. The kid pointed at Vanessa’s hands and noted that the rift they were in would be collapsing soon, seeing how it was now affecting their appearance. She _was_ still surprised that there hadn’t been many “glitches in reality”, as she had called them. Snatcher _was_ , too, if he had to be honest. For a collapsing dimension, this was… _Really calm_. And this was starting to get _really_ dubious.

-“Maybe it’s trying to keep us safe,” suggested the kid, staring into space: “I’ve seen that happen before: some places are fine while others are… Very different from what they used to be. I’m sure this room is fine just _because_ we’re in there. The rift is probably trying its best to stabilize the places we’re in, while the rest of the dimension is mostly… _Altered_.”

The shade pretended to understand and nodded. This was a bit too abstract for him, but he trusted the child when it came to it. Vanessa, on the other hand, seemed very much confused but also _very troubled_.

-“So… We weren’t human in the first place, were we?” finally wondered the woman. The kid only shook her head in response. A slight form of compassion could be seen on her expression, yet just like the shade, she had too many negative memories regarding the Queen to fully sympathize with her.

Vanessa lowered her head and glanced at her hands sadly:

-“… I see,” she replied simply, though it was easy to see how upset it made her.

The ghost and the hatted kid remained unmoving next to her, not knowing what to say. It took her a few more seconds before she lifted her head back up, rubbing her tears on her wrist. She breathed deeply and finally said she was ready to continue.

The ghost turned to the kid:

-“So: where is the Time Piece, now?” he asked in a serious tone of voice. When she heard his question, the child closed her eyes and started to think. However, when she started to frown, the shade guessed that no matter what she was feeling, _it wasn’t good_.

-“What’s wrong?” he added, pressing her to answer his question.

-“It’s… Still in the attic, I think? But…”

Snatcher immediately understood why the little girl was confused about the location of the time artefact. Why would this “Moonjumper” keep the precious item in the same place as before? This was stupid!

-“Are you _sure_ it’s not a trap?” he insisted, not liking where this was going at all.

-“I’m _sure_ I feel _something_ in the attic. But, like I said _plenty of times before_ , it’s _weird_. It might be because of the rift collapsing, though I’m not sure… I’ve been in collapsing timelines before and yet, I never felt my Time Pieces like that.”

The little girl’s statements only made the spirit groan from frustration. This couldn’t be easy, could it? This _had_ to be overcomplicated!

-“Okay, well, if time’s against us, I guess we don’t have many choices.”

The spirit and his ex contractor started to walk towards the cellar door, only to be stopped by Vanessa.

-“Wait! If you go that way, Sime- Moonjumper is going to know. There are guards and servants everywhere, and…” she paused and continued, on a darker tone: “I don’t know _how_ , but he can see through them, I’m sure of it.”

Well, _that_ explained why the guy had found out about their previous plan _so easily_ , if she was right. He had probably seen the scene through one of the guards’ eyes or mind, whatever it was. Then, all he had to do was creep behind them and knock the ghost out.

But things would be different if the timeline was collapsing, right?

-“What does it matter? The kid said that the outside would be safe.”

-“Actually,” interrupted the child: “ _I didn’t say that_. In fact, it’s the contrary.”

The ghost gave her a confused look, which prompted her to elaborate:

-“Well, either the rifts tries to protect us as we move, in which case it will recreate everything around us as it should be, guards and servants included… Either it won’t follow us and will keep maintaining the form of the cellar, only for us to risk falling into the void at one point once we’re outside.”

She took a deep breath and concluded:

-“So, _no_ , we won’t be safe outside,” she stopped and glanced at Vanessa interrogatively: “But it’s not like there’s another way, is it?”

The Queen nodded and smiled a little, pointing to one of the kegs in the room:

-“There is,” she answered, “there’s a secret passageway to the attic from here. It’s right behind that keg over there.”

-“What?!” exclaimed Snatcher, both astonished and angry: “I wasn’t aware of that!”

-“Well,” retorted the woman with a tired tone, “ _now_ , you are.”

The ghost’s frustration only intensified. Oh, how _lucky_ they were he didn’t have his powers back yet! However, before he was able to talk back, the little girl interrupted them, placing herself between the two.

-“Can we _please_ focus, here?” she pleaded wearily. The ex-lovers glared at each other but still remained silent. The kid let out a sigh of relief and looked at Vanessa:

-“So, how do we activate the passageway?”

The Queen made a few steps towards the keg and pushed it aside, revealing a hidden trapdoor in the wall, which she opened swiftly. She then wiped her dusty clawed hands on her nightshirt, lifting her head to the other two, who had been expecting something much more… _Elaborated_ than that.

-“Like this!” concluded Vanessa, as she crouched next to the opening. However, when she noticed that Snatcher and the kid hadn’t moved, and were still staring at her, she called them back to reality.

-“Come on, _let’s go_!” she pressed, clapping her hands softly. The gesture only exacerbated the spirit, who did his best to remain impassive. _Oh no_ , he would _not_ let her see how much she _infuriated_ him. He still very much _hated_ her. Some apologies wouldn’t change that fact. _Never_.

If they ever got out of this time rift… He still wouldn’t allow her in _his_ part of the forest, _certainly not_.

The kid was the first one to move towards Vanessa and the shade followed her, crouching as well. The woman then entered the passageway on her knees. The child went after her and Snatcher was the last one to go.

He couldn’t help but have a very, _very_ bad feeling about all of this.

[Erekio](https://soundcloud.com/valerianne-feuillet) · [Hat Kid's frustration](https://soundcloud.com/valerianne-feuillet/hat-kids-frustration)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wonder what will happen next ! We'll find out in the next chapters :)
> 
> See you in the meantime, take care !


	22. “Oh, it’s so good to be back!”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things start to go south.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter !  
> I hope you'll like it !
> 
> Thank you so much for all your support ! Your comments mean so much to me, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU !
> 
> The drawing in this chapter is a bit old but still, I'm happy on how it came out.
> 
> You can see more of my art and/or fanfiction updates here : https://erekiosuncreativeideas.tumblr.com/
> 
> Happy reading !

The secret passageway was extremely narrow, dusty and the air inside was humid. While the hatted brat could make her way inside easily, Snatcher and Vanessa had a little more trouble doing so. It was dark inside and the light emitted by the ghost’s face didn’t help very much, as all he could see was the kid’s behind as they all moved forward, crawling on the ground. The tunnel went on for a while and Snatcher couldn’t help but wonder if Vanessa knew what she was doing or… If she was planning to put them in another trap. The only thing preventing him from asking the Queen directly was the fear of being heard through the walls.

The spirit let out a huge feeling of relief when, _finally_ , the tunnel ended. The kid stood up in front of him and he did the same as soon as he didn’t need to crawl anymore. The trio was now in a small room, full of dust and spiderwebs. There weren’t any windows and the only thing in there was a wooden ladder. The wood seemed rotten, probably an effect of the time and the humid air.

-“Where are we?” asked Snatcher, wary, as he tried to look where the ladder would take them. No matter how bright his face was, all he could see was darkness. Apparently, climbing was going to be _long_. It worried him a little: his body looked like his ghostly form, though the shade still needed to breathe, to swallow his saliva, he could smell things, feel things… _And physical pain was one of them_. His arms and shoulders hurt from all the time he had remained shackled to a wall, fortunately unconscious for most of the time. Would he be able to climb that ladder? But then a more awful thought hit him: would the kid, who had experienced the same situation as him, would be able to climb it?

She didn’t seem to be in pain, though the ghost could see that her posture was much more tensed. She didn’t show it, but she was probably suffering in silence. Normally, this should make Snatcher happy, it should be _hilarious_ to him! _Except it wasn’t_.

Was it because he wasn’t the reason for the brat’s pain? However, before he was able to think more about it, Vanessa answered his previous question, silencing his inner monologue:

-“We’re just below the attic. Now, we just need to climb and we’ll get there.”

The little girl nodded and determination appeared on her features, as she changed her usual hat for the alchemist one. A poof sound resonated around them, soon followed by words full of resolve:

-“And then we’ll take the Time Piece and smash it onto the ground,” she declared: “After that, everything should be back to normal.”

Snatcher was about to comment on the “ _should_ ” in her sentence but decided against it. She had been through a lot, mostly because of him, he had to admit… So he kept his mouth shut, _for once_.

Vanessa pushed herself on the side of the ladder, as an invitation for the other two to go first. Snatcher couldn’t help but find it extremely suspicious. He couldn’t say he fully trusted her, not after everything she did. The ghost gave her a dirty look and nodded to the ladder as he started to speak again:

-“And why don’t you go first?” he questioned with a suspicious tone. The woman only replied with an unimpressed look and pointed to the bottom of her nightshirt. It took the spirit a few seconds to understand what she was implying. He felt ridiculous for asking and blushed angrily, while the hatted brat giggled at his reaction.

-“Okay, okay, fine, I’ll go first!” concluded the shade, hoping for them to quickly forget what had just happened. But, deep down, he knew the kid was going to mock him _for days_. When he heard her trying not to laugh, he glared at her as a warning. He was nice enough to keep his mouth shut, but if it wasn’t mutual, _then it wouldn’t last for long_. His glare apparently worked and he saw the child looking somewhere else, caught red-handed.

The shade sighed, exasperated, and started climbing, soon followed by the hatted brat and his ex. And, just like he had thought… This was hard. His muscles hurt from the efforts and he couldn’t help but be discouraged as he glanced into the darkness above him. This was going to be extremely long and painful, wasn’t it? Plus, the wood was in poor shape and Snatcher couldn’t help but be afraid to fall. As a ghost, he could fly… But in this human body? He would just fall down and take the other two with him in the process. _Not a good scenario_.

Nonetheless, the ghost kept climbing, clenching his jaw as the effort became more and more unbearable. He could feel his arms getting weak, his muscles hurting… He huffed, as his heartbeat quickened. He dared to glance below his feet, watching the kid struggling just as he was. He had been right to think she was in pain as well. She was used to physical efforts but _this was much different_ , considering how straining it had been, to be shackled to a wall like that…

He would never, _ever_ forgive Vanessa. The idea of the child experiencing that, _when he knew how hard and painful it was…_ It made him _livid_. The only reason he was listening to the Queen right now was because it might be their only chance of escaping. But as soon as they were out of there… Snatcher would _certainly not_ allow her in _his_ part of the forest. Nothing would ever change that.

The shade was suddenly brought back to reality as he felt something bumping into his head. It was a wooden trapdoor, illuminated by the yellowish glow of his face. The surprise caused by the contact almost made him let go of the ladder. He heard the kid give a sigh of relief, as she probably thought he would fall as well.

-“Why did you stop?” asked the little girl with a curious yet anxious tone.

-“I…” the spirit gulped and tried to push the trap door very cautiously: “I think we’re here.” Another sigh of relief left the child’s lips, and Snatcher could absolutely relate to her. He was exhausted too.

The small door didn’t give him much resistance. The wood was in poor condition and it felt strange on his skin. A ray of light lightened the secret passageway as Snatcher opened the trapdoor completely. Snatcher squinted his yellow eyes and entered the room, soon followed by the kid as well as Vanessa. They were indeed in the attic and the Queen _apparently_ didn’t lie. They were alone, surrounded by old pieces of furniture, forgotten paintings, crates, all dusty from the effects of time.

The spirit dusted his clothes and made a few steps in the attic, careful not to make too much noise. He certainly didn’t want this Moonjumper guy coming after all the trouble they went through to get out of here! The ghost scanned the room quickly: no Time Piece in sight. Well, it wasn’t that surprising, considering how _precious_ it was. The evil spirit possessing Simeon surely hid it well to avoid risks of it being found too easily. Maybe Vanessa knew where it was. With that in mind, he turned to his ex and asked her about it. Her reply didn’t surprise the shade in the least, though:

-“No… He told me it was in there, but he didn’t want me to know where exactly,” she explained, before trying to justify herself: “Sorry. At the time, it wasn’t something important to me…”

The spirit frowned: this wasn’t helping very much. He was about to turn to the hatted brat next but the said little girl moved quickly in the corner of his vision. It caught Snatcher’s attention and he noticed the small child running towards what seemed like an ordinary crate. But before he was able to question her about her intentions, he saw her materializing an explosive potion in her hand, which she put on the top of the wooden box. That’s when the shade understood what she was trying to do and, despite his body looking like his ghostly form, his face turned pale immediately. He extended a hand in her direction, trying to stop her, but it was already too late.

-“No, no, no, no! We don’t want to attract att-” he tried to yell in a hush, however, he was soon interrupted by the sound of an explosion resonating in the room.

A huge cloud of smoke appeared because of the blast, mixing itself with the thick layers of dust already in the attic. The noise was loud, _too loud_ , and soon, Snatcher’s eyes stung from all the particles floating in the air. In the same way, his lungs were quickly filled with them and he couldn’t help but cough as tears rolled on his cheeks. His chest hurt so much… Behind him, he could hear Vanessa coughing and whining just as he was.

Despite how painful it was, Snatcher tried to open his eyes again and saw the silhouette of the brat behind the clouds of smoke. How was she even able to _breathe_ in there?! Though, his question was soon answered as he saw two green lights appearing through the smoke: of course, she was wearing her dweller mask. The shade had no idea this thing could protect anyone from being _asphyxiated_ , but it’s not like he was a specialist on the matter! He was just a _dead prince and lawyer_!

The child looked like she was searching for something inside what was left of the crate. After a few seconds, she seemed to take out something, a very shiny object, which she lifted in the air with a loud and proud “ _ah-ha!_ ”

_The Time Piece_. It was there, in her small and little hand!

The ghost let a relieved smile appear on his features as he realized what it truly meant: it was over! They would _finally_ leave this rotten and - _oh so wrong_ \- place! His smile widened as he watched the kid smash it onto the floor. Sounds of broken glasses echoed in the room as the bright sand spread on the ground. And then, _pure silence_. A _deafening_ and _awfully long_ silence.

Was it normal? Was it supposed to take that long?

The little girl’s gestures through the smoke seemed to show that she was confused as well. She kneeled down next to the broken shards and the shade could hear her mumbling things for herself. However, Snatcher was able to understand some bits of it: “ _I don’t understand!_ ”, “ _It shouldn’t do that!_ ” and many other sentences like these.

_This was not good_.

-“What-” The ghost coughed as dust entered his throat when he tried to speak: “What’s happening, kiddo?”

Seconds passed, and he could hear the child panicking more and more, her breathing rhythm quickening as she started to fidget. She wasn’t listening to him. In fact, she probably didn’t even hear him, given how _distressed_ she appeared to be. Whatever was happening, this was _not_ normal, especially if his ex-contractor had _no idea_ how to solve a situation like this one.

Plus, he had no idea how much time they had left before this Moonjumper guy came to stop them… For some reason, Snatcher had a very bad feeling about him, though he couldn’t tell why.

He coughed again and tried to catch the brat’s attention once more, speaking up this time:

-“Kid!” he yelled, loud enough for the child to turn her head towards him: “What’s happening?”

The insistence and urge in his voice brought the kid back to reality and she stuttered an answer:

-“I- I don’t know!” her voice was muffled through the fox mask but he could still understand her perfectly: “It should have brought us back by now! I don’t understand, I don’t-!”

However, before she could add anything else, a cruel and unknown laugh resonated in the attic. It seemed to come from all directions at once, echoing all around them. The trio went silent as a mix of surprise and horror engulfed them all. Vanessa made a few steps to Snatcher, confirming his suspicions:

-“It’s him,” she warned him as she prepared herself for the imminent battle. The air became suddenly colder around them and the blackness of her hands spread on her forearms as she did so. As for the spirit, he wished he could use his own powers, but he still couldn’t sense them inside of him. But he needed them _so much_ right now!

The unknown voice spoke again, with a fake disappointed tone that was everything but reassuring:

-“I thought we were a good team, Vanessa!” cooed the evil spirit, still nowhere in sight: “Weren’t you _happy_ with everything I did for you?”

Vanessa’s face contorted in anger and frustration as she replied darkly:

-“You _lied_ to me.”

Her voice, surprisingly calm, was enough to make Snatcher _extremely ill-at-ease_ , as it reminded him of very bad memories he wished he could forget. His body tensed up more because of her, rather than because of the presence of an enemy they couldn’t see yet.

-“Did I?” wondered the stranger to himself and he continued after a pause: “Yet, I remember you accepting my help without any question… _Am I wrong_?”

His mischievous tone was getting on Snatcher’s nerves, but apparently even more on Vanessa’s. She squinted and gritted her teeth before throwing an attack at random. Pillars of ice erupted from the floor, shattering the wooden planks of the attic one by one. Vanessa was fighting an invisible enemy but, to Snatcher, the guy wasn’t only invisible.

_He just wasn’t there at all_. He just _knew_ it, maybe because of a ghost instinct he ignored he had. Yet, he was still sure their enemy was _not_ in the same room as them.

The evil spirit laughed again, clearly finding the Queen’s attempts at murdering him quite funny. Snatcher, on the contrary, knew that those certainly weren’t. The other seemed to see the woman as a harmless threat, which wasn’t reassuring at all, seeing that she was the most powerful being among the trio.

-“Oh, _really_ , Vanessa? After _everything_ I have done for you? Is _this_ what I get in return? Tsk, tsk, tsk…”

The Queen’s rage intensified and she threw other, similar attacks at random around her, one of them almost hitting the hatted brat, who managed to dodge the ice pillars by very little. A little shriek left her lips, as she avoided the attack. As for the woman, her monster from was now spreading to her arms and soon it would reach her shoulders. Snatcher felt a huge feeling of panic settling over him: he had to stop his ex from becoming crazy once again! If he didn’t, he was sure she would either hurt him… Or the kid by accident.

The ghost reacted quickly and grabbed her shoulders, turning her to him, despite how afraid he was to do so. The eyes that met his were red and full of hatred. The Queen tried to push him away, almost roaring from the fury she was feeling, but the shade forced her to look back at him.

-“Vanessa!” he yelled: “ _Snap out of it_!”

She didn’t seem to hear it at first but when he shook her again, Vanessa’s stare finally fell back on him. Rage was soon replaced by confusion and then horror as she realized she had lost her temper once again.

-“I’m…” she apologized softly, stepping away from Snatcher as she noticed how much her body had been corrupted by her new outburst: “I’m so sorry!”

Snatcher said nothing, too overwhelmed by his emotions to speak up. At least, Vanessa’s anger hadn’t been for nothing, as it allowed the dust to float away, giving everyone a much better look of the room. The other spirit, on the contrary, found the situation extremely amusing and snickered cruelly.

-“Oh, the Ice Queen being _sorry_! Isn’t it _ridiculous_?”

Vanessa’s expression darkened, both upset and frustrated, but she remained calm nonetheless, to Snatcher’s great relief. The hatted girl took advantage of the woman’s newfound calm to join back her companions. She adopted a fighting stance, since she didn’t have her umbrella anymore, yet Snatcher didn’t feel like it would work on a being like their enemy.

If this guy was a ghost like him… Then hurting him physically wouldn’t work under normal circumstances. Vannessa would be the only one able to hurt him if she used her magic. He and the kid, however, would be _completely_ _useless_ in battle. The trio changed positions to be back to back with each other, ready to fight the powerful stranger wherever he would come out from. Snatcher couldn’t help but feel like he was the most harmless of the three.

-“Aw, how _cute_! I must admit, I find your _vain persistence_ quite amusing!” bragged the evil spirit, then changing his intonation completely, choosing a much more threatening tone: “However, I think now is the time for you to _stop resisting_.”

A weird static noise echoed in the room and Snatcher turned his head to the direction of the sound. On the ground, the previously smashed Time Piece was now affected by glitches until it disappeared completely in a blink as if it had never been there in the first place. Next to him, the kid’s face crumpled in terror as she was now realizing the exact same thing as him.

_The Time Piece she had smashed onto the ground had been fake_. It had been a lure to trap them. And they all fell right into it.

Another static noise resonated in the attic and, not too far from the now inexistent Time Piece, a whitish breach opened, tearing reality apart. Some particles of dust were sucked into it and completely disappeared as they entered the hole. For a brief moment, Snatcher thought the rift was collapsing, that they were going to die now with the Time Rift… But suddenly, a grey hand grabbed one of the edges of the breach, soon followed by another one. Their claws were trying to get a solid hold on the reality and, after a few seconds of huge efforts, a silhouette slowly dragged itself from the whitish void. The figure was unrecognizable and belonged to a spirit Snatcher didn’t know. The stranger was wearing a long red coat with yellow buttons and stripes on the top of his sleeves. He didn’t seem to have legs and had a yellowish kind of tail instead. It looked like he used to have legs but they had been ripped off him.

The evil spirit’s skin was grey and his head had a strange form, like a crescent moon form. The trio was unable to move, too astonished to do anything. And, after what felt centuries to the shade, the other lifted his head and looked at them with an insane expression. His right eye had red diamonds in them while his left eye had a red pupil and was staring at them in a crazed way.

-“Oh, it’s _so good_ to be back,” sighed the other spirit before laughing maniacally.

Snatcher knew that whoever this guy was and whatever were his motives… He was clearly decided to murder them all. But the ghost would not let him.

_This was absolutely out of the question_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEHEHE, WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THAT CLIFFHANGER ?  
> I hope you liked this chapter ! Thank you so much for all your support !
> 
> Take care, everyone !


	23. “What now?”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We learn some new things about the past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter ! As always, I hope you'll like it !  
> Thank you so much for all your nice comments, it means so much to me !! I have two or three chapters left writing and this fanfiction will be finished. It's the beginning of the end !
> 
> I had decided to not finish the drawing for this chapter (because it was too gory for my taste), but... I changed my mind and decided to post the sketch version. From that point in the fanfic, things are going to get pretty intense. I'm not sure if I should change the rating yet, but... Yeah, if you're sensitive to that, I'd suggest not looking at the drawing for too long, even if it's not "too gory" compared to the next drawings.
> 
> Anyway... Don't hesitate to tell me if you liked the chapter and happy reading !
> 
> You can follow me on Tumblr if you're interested : https://erekiosuncreativeideas.tumblr.com/

Alistel had thought it was all a dream at first. A _terrifying_ , _awful_ nightmare his mind had come up with, something not real and bound to disappear the moment he would wake up. After all, this was all completely ridiculous, wasn’t it? Vanessa, locking him up into the basement and _freezing the entire village_? This had to be a joke! A bad one, _sure_ , but a joke nonetheless. A _sweet and nice person_ like Vanessa would have _never_ hurt anyone!

_And yet_ … This was _all so very real_. When the Prince woke up again, eyes still shut because of how _tired_ he was, he just knew he hadn’t imagined it. Vanessa had gone crazy, he couldn’t deny the truth anymore. Alistel had always been a young man full of hope, but now… _He didn’t know what to hope for_. It was hard to think of a better future when you could barely move your fingers or your toes because of the awful cold of the cellar… At least, _nothing hurt anymore_.

The young man felt his exhausted mind be stimulated at the realization. How was it possible? The pain in his shoulders had been so _unbearable_ , the cold attacking his limbs and making his muscles numb, the feeling of his joints giving up one after another… If Hell existed, _this was certainly it_. No matter how hard Alistel thought about it, he was sure that he didn’t deserve it. _No one did_.

But now, _nothing hurt anymore_. And he was not being shackled to anything anymore. He was lying on the ground instead.

He slowly opened his eyes, coming back to reality after what had felt like a restless sleep. Instead of seeing the usual darkness of the cellar he had been used to for hours, _maybe days_ … A powerful ray of light greeted his vision, making him squint. _Where was he_? Was he still dreaming, somehow?

Did… _Did Vanessa free him while he was asleep_?

A sudden rush of hope engulfed him, hitting him like a huge wave would. It made him reopen his eyes, trying to get them used to the amount of light around him. He had expected to see the purple walls of his room or the red walls from Vanessa’s… However, his confusion grew even more when he looked all around him, trying to understand what was happening. The Prince was lying on the ground, on what seemed to be grass. Next to him were a few rocks and a tree. A little pond could be seen next to them. He was _outside_? _Why_? But as soon as this thought came to his mind, he noticed something very strange. The sky above him was not blue… But _white_. A _pure_ and _blinding_ white that felt _much too unreal_. He seemed like he was on a little floating island, which was surrounded by other small floating islands itself. They all looked the same as the one he was on: there were grass, rocks and trees, vegetation everywhere and no sign of civilization in sight.

_He was dreaming_ , wasn’t he? He couldn’t see any other explanation for what he was seeing.

He tried to sit up in order to examine his surroundings better, though his attention was soon caught by something: _the young man couldn’t feel his legs anymore_. Fuelled by a feeling of panic, he straightened up and glanced at his legs to see what was the problem. Yet, nothing, _absolutely nothing_ could have prepared him for what he saw, _not even all this time passed in the cellar_.

_He didn’t have legs anymore_. Around where his knees should be, there wasn’t anything anymore, as if they had been cut off. Blood was all over the ground. _But it didn’t hurt_. All he could feel at the moment was _an unbearable sensation of cold_ that was haunting his whole body.

A scream left his lips. It echoed in this empty and seemingly infinite place, replacing the oppressive and deafening silence which reigned. Fear, confusion, rage… All these feelings were mixed together and they were _so overwhelming_ to him. His whole being was devastated by everything he was seeing. _This could only be a nightmare_! This couldn’t possibly be _real_! His breathing rhythm was quick, panicked but his heart wasn’t following it. In fact, _it wasn’t beating at all_ , though he felt much too distressed at the moment to realize it.

The Prince was then pulled out of his terrified state when he felt something leaking from his right eye. At first, _he thought he was crying_ , but he couldn’t help but bring his hand to his face, feeling the irrepressible need to check what it was. His face contorted in _absolute horror_ when he examined his hand, not seeing tears but _blood i_ nstead.

-“No…” The word left his mouth as he suddenly realized he couldn’t see anything from his right eye.

His voice cracked and more broken sounds came out of his mouth while he kept staring at his fingers covered in blood. His hands were blue and he couldn’t feel anything with the tips of his fingers anymore. He had no idea how he didn’t notice it earlier, though it was probably because of the many horrible things he was experiencing at the same time.

Alistel was incapable of thinking, his whole body trembling from how _terrified_ he was. This couldn’t be happening, _this couldn’t be happening_! It could only be a dream! After all, pain didn’t exist in dream! That could only explain why he was such in a gruesome shape _without even suffering from it_!

A scared and nervous laugh left his lips as he considered the idea. No matter how real it all seemed, this was just his mind playing tricks on him! Soon, he would be back in the cellar, waiting for his lover to change her mind and free him! Another fit of laughter took him by surprise as he took his head in his hands, before sobbing uncontrollably. His voice echoed in the nothingness of this place as he screamed again, as loud as he could. But no one answered him. _He was just alone_.

The Prince knew he was just deluding himself. This place, the shape he was in, the fact that nothing hurt or the fact that everything seemed just so real… It could only mean one thing, an idea that he had had but decided to ignore completely.

_He was dead, wasn’t he_? And this place was the afterlife. The thought made him cry even more. What did he do to deserve this? He had only wanted to surprise his lover with a gift! _He had never wanted any of this to happen_!

He sobbed for a long time, though he couldn’t tell how long exactly, given how hard it was to measure time in this place. Screams and cries left his mouth until he felt better. Or at least, not as bad as when he woke up. Once he felt ready for it, he decided to take another look around him.

“ _What now?_ ” thought the young man, glancing everywhere, including the other small islands. Was he supposed to wait until _something_ happened? It wasn’t like he was going to stay there forever… _Wasn’t he_? The thought made him feel _extremely nervous_ : this couldn’t happen, right? Every tale he had heard of the afterlife had never mentioned something like this! Then again, it wasn’t like someone would _come back from the afterlife and tell people how it was exactly_! Though, when Alistel thought about what would come after death, this was _not_ what he had imagined.

Moving around in this state was not easy. Despite being dead, he couldn’t exactly float around, contrary to what many tales had proclaimed. So he could only crawl around and hope not to fall in the nothingness below the floating islands. The Prince had no idea what it was, yet, deep inside of him, he had the feeling he should not try to fall and see what would happen. Death might not be the real end, after all… And who knew what would happen if he did fall. Would he die _again_? Would he fall _for eternity_? Would he fall on something he couldn’t see from where he was? And if he did fall on something, what would happen to his already injured body? _He didn’t really want to know_.

So, while being very careful, he crawled around the island he was on, inspecting everything there was around him. He couldn’t feel the texture of anything because of how numb his fingers were, but he could tell it was real. There was no wind but the leaves of the trees still moved slowly and gently, same with the grass. There seemed to be some clouds in the white sky above him, though they were quite hard to see. But it wasn’t like Alistel wanted to try and spot them, given how blinding was the sky. So he just kept his eyes on the ground, trying to find anything useful or, at least, to occupy himself while waiting for something, _anything_ to happen.

He really hoped he wouldn’t stay there forever… He couldn’t imagine anything worse than that… Or well, _he could_ , given what had happened to him before waking up here. Though _, he really didn’t want to think about it_. It was hard to know which situation was better and, if he had to be completely honest, _he didn’t even want to know_.

He just wanted to be _free_. Not in the cellar. Not stuck in this _hellish_ afterlife. _Just free_.

The Prince didn’t find anything really interesting in his search of information. He crawled to the side of the pond and lied down next to it. The more time passed in this _horrifying_ silence, the more he couldn’t help but fear of staying there forever. He didn’t die in Vanessa’s cellar to be stuck somewhere else in the afterlife! _This wasn’t fair_! He frowned and anger quickly engulfed him again as new tears rolled on his cheeks.

All he did was _to surprise_ Vanessa! _This was not fair_!

Rage settled over him again and he pounded the surface of the water with his fist, having nothing else to hit. Unsurprisingly, the water splashed around it and on his torn clothes. It only intensified the cold feeling he could sense on his blueish skin. He remained motionless for a while, debating if he wanted to do that again or just let it go and _wait_. Eventually, he turned to the water and, despite his fears, he looked at his face for the first time in what had felt years.

_He shouldn’t have done it_.

The right side of his face was covered in blood, most of it had dried up on his skin. The said skin was blue, probably because of the cold in the cellar. His right eye was still there, _fortunately,_ but… It was badly injured and bloody. Alistel couldn’t bear the sight of it and glanced away, hiding it with his hair not to look at it again. At least, _it wasn’t painful_ … He couldn’t see anything with it, though.

His hair had darkened too and his haircut was a huge mess, _not that it mattered much in his current situation_. His clothes were in poor shape and had holes everywhere. God, they didn’t look like this the last time he looked at them… Had he been dead for _that_ long? He was utterly confused by the thought and tried to think about something else.

His hands were still blue, just like his skin, and were extremely skinny. His whole body was just skin and bones at this point, but it was still very unsettling to look at. His nails had grown a bit too much for his state but, just like his haircut, _this was not his top priority_.

Under his eyes, dark rings had taken place and his cheeks were hollow. His lips had a dark purple tone and were bruised by the cold. Truly, he really looked like a ghost but, in a way, that was what he was now, wasn’t he? He frowned and forced himself not to cry once more. His situation was already bad as it was, crying wouldn’t help him to get out of here.

Just as he was about to turn away from the pond, the water moved on his own and colours started to appear on the reflective surface. Alistel’s attention was caught once again as his glance went back on the pond. His confusion intensified when the colours started to form shapes, figures he could recognize if he squinted enough. Soon, the shapes cleared and he was able to see something. Was the pound magical? A new hope emerged in his mind: _maybe it would help him to leave this place_! The more he stayed in there, the more uncomfortable it became. It was just too silent, too strange, too… _Lonely_.

The Prince forced his mind to come back to reality as the pond was showing him something that definitely seemed important. It depicted a forest, trapped in ice and snow. Was it Subcon Forest?

-“Oh no…” murmured Alistel. Did Vanessa do _that_ to their kingdom? To the forest? Did she really kill _every living being_ because of her jealousy?

The pictures changed and showed him ice statues, all scattered around the forest and the village, as if the water was trying to answer his inner interrogations. But Alistel would have preferred not to know… The sight of the frozen corpses made him look away in despair. He didn’t want to see this, _he didn’t want to see this_!

-“Stop showing me that!” yelled the Prince, hitting the surface of the water again, troubling the picture on it. The colours mixed together as he turned away, definitely upset.

For a strange reason, the sky darkened a few seconds later and the clouds took a threatening colour, as if a thunderstorm was to come. The young man frowned, puzzled. Did… _Did he do that_? Or was the pond somewhat conscious and was _angry_ at his reaction? _No, this was stupid_. Though, just to be sure, he tried to calm himself down, taking deep breathes he probably didn’t need anymore. Somehow, this seemed to have an impact on the “weather” and it turned back to its whitish and calm state not long after that.

What was happening? Was this place linked to him in some way?

Afraid, Alistel glanced back to the pond, which - _thankfully!_ \- was showing him something else. It depicted a dark, purplish silhouette walking through the snow, fighting against the wind to move. The blizzard going on around this person made it difficult to know _who_ that person was exactly, though Alistel felt relieved to know that _someone_ had survived. Someone out there was still _alive_! Someone had survived Vanessa’s jealous outburst!

On the other hand, _he_ did not… But knowing there were still survivors made him feel incredibly relieved. At least… Not _everyone_ had died because of his foolish decision to surprise Vanessa…

But as he wondered who that person could be, if he knew them, if perhaps they were someone he was close to… The colours of the pond mixed together again and the picture changed, showing him a much clearer sight of who that stranger was.

Alistel’s dead heart sunk in his chest as he realized that the person he was seeing was none other than _himself_ , getting away from the manor he had died in. The Prince’s eyes widened as the shock left him completely motionless. Soon, the sky and the clouds darkened again as his mind was filled mostly with confusion.

Who was this person? Were they… _Him_? But they were _alive_! And he was _here_! How could he be at two places _at the same time_? Did someone _steal_ his body? Was he even the Prince anymore if there was another “ _him_ ” in the living world?

Alistel soon started to hyperventilate, though he probably didn’t even need air anymore. The sky darkened even more, certainly following his emotions, though the young man didn’t want to think about it. All he wanted at the moment were answers and _to get out of here_.

The Prince lifted his head to look at the sky, more than worried and particularly upset. Hopefully, he would get his wishes soon… _The contrary being extremely terrifying to him_.

The man turned back to the pond to keep watching what it showed him of the outside world. This was all he could do to get answers to his questions: _wait and watch_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, well, well, the plot thickens.   
> Hope you liked the chapter ! See you on the next one, take care in the meantime !
> 
> Oh and.  
> Brace yourself for the next chapters.  
> :)


	24. “You’re crazy.”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things don't go as planned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter, yay !  
> [WARNING: the third and last drawing is gory]
> 
> THIS CHAPTER HAS AN AUDIO FILE ! I commissioned Puyo-Proto again, and he did an AMAZING JOB ! Please check his Twitter, he's so talented !! (Here : https://twitter.com/Puyo_Proto)  
> Thank you so much for voicing a part of this dialogue !
> 
> Also I finally understood how to put audio files directly in the chapter, so you'll find it at the very end of the chapter.
> 
> I hope you'll like this chapter :)  
> Happy reading !
> 
> You can find more of more of my art or updates about the fanfiction on my art blog : https://erekiosuncreativeideas.tumblr.com/

-“Oh, it’s _so good_ to be back!” The voice coming from their enemy brought back Snatcher to reality: _this was it_. The moment he had been waiting for so long. The evil spirit was almost out of the breach as Vanessa launched another one of her ice attacks in his direction. The stranger avoided it by very little and managed to enter the rift, cackling threateningly as he did so.

Something felt _very wrong_ about the way this guy laughed, thought Snatcher couldn’t put his finger on it. And it certainly wasn’t the time for this kind of thoughts.

Vanessa didn’t wait long to throw another attack, defiantly adopting an aggressive attitude against their common enemy, who kept dodging all of her attempts at hurting him. The stranger floated around, avoiding each ice pillar coming out of the floor with grace, all while laughing maniacally at the trio.

This Moonjumper guy was mocking them and certainly didn’t see them as a serious threat to his existence. Normally, this would enrage the shade more than enough, but in this particular scenario… This was _extremely_ dangerous, because it meant their opponent was much more powerful than them. Plus, the latter had a Time Piece in his possession, which would _definitely_ play a part in their fight.

What would happen if this guy used it to his advantage? The kid probably knew the answer, but the time wasn’t appropriate for questions. _Now was the time to fight_.

The other snickered, while Vanessa’s frustration intensified. She always missed her attacks and the ghost could see her powers corrupting her body more and more. Her attacks were becoming messier, meddled and less coordinated. If she continued like that, not only was she going to get consumed again by her powers, but she would most likely wear herself out. Considering the fact that she was the only one able to pit herself against this Moonjumper, this was _not_ a good thing. The Queen needed to snap out of it and to stop letting herself be taunted by this guy. This was exactly what this spirit was trying to do!

Apparently, the kid on his side came to the same conclusion as him, though she reacted in a _completely different way_ than Snatcher would. Without his powers, the ghost felt useless and quite literally harmless against an enemy able to resist Vanessa’s attacks. Trying to hurt this monster would likely result in him being thrown away or, in the worst-case scenario, _getting killed_. Thus, charging this opponent in that meat sack of a body was _not_ something strategic, at least not if he wanted to attack the other physically. He didn’t even have a weapon!

But, _of course_ , the hatted brat didn’t think. No, she just rushed into things without thinking about all the possible outcomes!

The little girl exchanged her dweller mask for her alchemist hat and then started to run to the crate she had broken earlier, grabbing one of the damaged planks on the ground. She took a good hold of it as she charged this Moonjumper while the latter was still busy dealing with Vanessa.

Fuelled by a feeling of panic, the ghost extended his hand towards the child, letting a “ _no!_ ” out of his lips. But the moment his voice came out of his mouth, he _deeply_ regretted it: their enemy hadn’t actually seen the kid approaching him but, now that Snatcher had voiced his worry aloud, the other spirit looked in the child’s direction and spotted her attempts at hurting him.

The shade wished he could have kept his mouth shut. Vanessa abruptly realizing how close the kid was to their enemy and was stopped in her tracks, as she was about to throw another attack. She had already risked hurting the hatted child before and surely didn’t want to do it again, but this had been a mistake too.

It simply gave the other a chance to attack as well.

A sickening smile appeared on their opponent’s strange face, as his crazed stare was fixed on the little girl, who had lifted her weapon above her head to hit him. Red strings suddenly appeared from the tips of the other spirit’s fingers and launched themselves in the kid’s direction. They moved in the air quickly, almost too quickly for Snatcher’s stare to follow them. However, before the child was able to dodge or defend herself, the red strings tied themselves around her small body, immediately immobilizing her and bringing her attack to an abrupt stop. The plank she was holding fell back on the ground.

-“Well, well, well, what do we have here?” cooed the evil spirit with a dark smile.

Vanessa frowned at his tone and tried to attack him once again before stopping herself almost instantly when this Moonjumper pulled the child just in front of him, where the spikes would have hurt him if the Queen hadn’t hold herself back. The child let out a shriek and closed her eyes as the ice pillars almost hit her. She was unable to do anything else, much too tied up to move. Fear had suddenly replaced her determination as she was now completely harmless and powerless.

_This guy was using the brat as a hostage_. The thought made the shade absolutely livid. No one could dare to hurt that hatted brat, he was the only one. The ghost felt heat radiating from his body as he gave the other spirit a death glare.

-“You let go of her _right now_ ,” he started with a dark and threatening tone, “and maybe I’ll consider giving you a _merciful death_.”

The threat only made the other giggle cruelly. He pulled on the red strings with one hand, making them squeeze the brat tighter, as if he was taunting him. His victim winced from the sudden pain, not without struggling. But no matter how hard she was trying to get free, the strings only seemed to squeeze her more.

-“Is that so?” bragged Moonjumper: “And _how_ are you going to attack me? You may look like your old form, though you are just as harmless to me than a _regular_ and _common_ human.”

He used his free hand to tie more strings around the hatted brat, this time around her neck. Terror appeared on the kid’s face as breathing was getting difficult for her.

Apart from Vanessa, the shade had never wanted to kill someone so badly. However, seeing how much in danger the kid was, he remained motionless and silent as their opponent started talking again, turning towards Vanessa:

-“As for _you_ … I would not try to do anything if I were in your shoes,” he paused and continued, much more serious: “Unless you want another child _to die_ because of you.”

The remark made the woman grow pale instantly and she lowered her black hands back to her hips, unable to do anything else. The ghost saw her glancing in his direction, probably wondering if she should try to attack the other and ignore the latter’s threat, but Snatcher glared at her in response. They would not take a risk like this one. Hurting the kid was not part of his plan of the day.

-“Good, good,” cooed this Moonjumper, sarcastically, sending more red strings in Vanessa’s direction. The strings tied her up before she was able to dodge them, keeping her in place: “Now, _kneel_ ,” ordered the evil spirit.

The woman hesitated, glaring at him fiercely. However, when the latter started to pull on the red strings on the little girl’s neck, Snatcher’s voice echoed in the room:

-“Do as he says!”

There was too much despair in his intonation for his taste but he couldn’t care less at the moment. The kid’s life was in danger and if Vanessa had to kneel to save her, then he would scream at her to do so. The Queen glanced at him and eventually complied, while the shade let out a sigh of relief when their enemy gave the child more slack.

Why would anyone want to murder them anyway? This made no sense! They didn’t know that guy!

-“ _Why_ are you doing this?” interrogated Snatcher, trying his best to sound calm, even if he definitely wasn’t.

The question seemed to take the other spirit aback as he simply stared at Snatcher in bewilderment for a few seconds. Why? This was a perfectly legitimate question! Who in their right mind would not ask that if they were in this particular situation?

Their enemy tilted his head in pure confusion and then a smile appeared on his lips. Slowly, his expression started to change, going from surprise to hilarity, and he then started to laugh. If his hands weren’t busy to keep the child in place, the other would have certainly clenched his sides from how much he was laughing.

This laugh, _why_ did this laugh bother Snatcher _so much_?

It was now his turn to be confused and the trio couldn’t help but watch the scene before them, completely powerless. The child was glancing between the monster holding her as a hostage and her two adult companions, not knowing what to do or what to think at all.

The other spirit’s laugh ended darkly as he stared back at Snatcher, eyes full of hatred:

-“Oh, _of course_ , you wouldn’t recognize me, _how silly of me_ ,” he growled as he squeezed the strings around the child even more, making her whine and close her eyes from the pain. The ghost was so going to murder this guy, _slowly_ , making him suffer as long as possible.

However, the words took Snatcher aback: what did the other mean? Snatcher had never met another spirit like this so-called Moonjumper before! His frustration intensified, though he managed to keep his mouth shut, not forgetting that his interlocutor could very well snap the child’s neck if he wanted to.

-“Well, it is not really surprising, I suppose,” continued the monster, his cruel smile widening: “Using the Time Piece had some… _Special effects_ on my vessel. It seems now that I am both dead and alive at the same time,” he explained, in the same tone someone would use to talk about the weather: “My appearance is quite different now because of that. A shame, truly.”

-“Listen,” protested the shade, careful not to sound too aggressive and kept going: “I have no idea who you are.” It certainly couldn’t be someone who died after one of his contracts, since he always ate their soul afterwards. Maybe an acquaintance of one of his victims? Yet, it didn’t make much sense as his interlocutor seemed to know him personally.

The ghost was not lying when he said he didn’t know this guy.

-“Oh, _I know_ you don’t,” replied the latter cynically: “You _never_ even knew I existed in the first place.”

-“So _who_ are you?!” snapped the shade, unable to stay quiet anymore. He just wanted answers! He glared at his opponent as he kept talking, still watching the child carefully, hoping nothing would happen to her because of his attitude: “ _Why_ would you go through the trouble of recreating a whole version of our past _just_ to kill us in the end? We don’t even _know_ you!”

The evil spirit glared back at him but didn’t hurt the brat again, thankfully. Instead, he just smiled wickedly and tilted his head as he finally gave an answer to the question the trio waited for:

-“I _am_ you.”

This was definitely not the answer Snatcher was expecting. From the look on his companions’ face, they didn’t expect that kind of answer either. Apparently, their reaction must have been pretty visible because this Moonjumper giggled and corrected himself:

-“Or, well, _I used to_ ,” he explained, then continued with a darker intonation: “Fortunately, I have _nothing_ to do with you anymore.”

And when he said those last words, the stranger showed his left hand, as if to prove a point. For a few seconds, Snatcher didn’t know what to look at exactly, until he spotted something very special: a ring on his ring finger, a golden jewel on which could be seen a damaged ruby. Immediately, Snatcher’s heart sunk in his chest: he knew that ring. Even from afar, the shade could recognize what this ring was.

This was his old engagement ring. The one he used to have when he was alive. The one he had when he woke up in that forest. _The same one he died with, so many years ago_.

The shade’s eyes widened as everything started to make sense: the clothes this “Moonjumper” was wearing, his claims, the way he laughed, his corpse-looking like appearance, this ring… But this couldn’t be! Snatcher was here! _And this guy was over there_! If they were the same person, _how_ could they be at two different places at the same time?

There had to be an explanation for all of this, and what this spirit had told him certainly wasn’t it.

The others must have perceived his scepticism because his smile widened as he spoke again:

-“You don’t believe me, do you? That is fine. I did not expect you to. It does not matter anymore,” he said, darkly: “ _Nothing_ matters anymore, because you are all going to die,” then, patting the little girl’s head in a very disturbingly slow manner, he added: “Well, not you, little one. I used to want you dead as well, but I changed my mind. This does not concern you in any way, after all. Furthermore…”

The evil spirit gave Vanessa a death glare as he continued :

-“If I _did_ kill an innocent child, I wouldn’t be any better than you,” his smile returned as he turned back to the trembling victim in his hold: “Besides, if I _do_ come back to the Horizon after this, I _will_ have someone to keep me company!”

He chuckled at the sight of the brat’s confused and afraid expression. In the meantime, Snatcher’s anger and frustration kept growing. He didn’t understand a single word this guy was saying! The Horizon? What was that? _What_ was he even talking about?

-“You’re crazy,” mumbled the shade, astonished. He couldn’t believe what was happening: this was the only explanation! There was _no way_ this monster was right, it was simply and physically impossible!

The word caught the other’s attention, though in a very bad way. He frowned and threw a glance full of hatred at Snatcher:

-“Me, ‘crazy’?” he repeated, in a voice that was much too calm to be normal. The shade should have kept his mouth shut. His interlocutor kept going: “You know, this is quite ironic. _You_ are the one who caused me so much trouble, who _abandoned_ me… And _I_ am the ‘crazy’ one?”

-“I have _no idea_ what you are talking about,” insisted Snatcher, putting an emphasis on each syllable as he answered. But the other was not having it:

-“You left me in there to rot, _literally_! You left me, _your other half_ , to be stuck in a hellish dimension _for hundreds of years_!” yelled their opponent, absolutely livid: “I spent all this time, _alone_ , having to watch _you_ , _of all people_ , being _this pathetic_ while I couldn’t even leave this place!”

Snatcher’s eyes widened as he was listening to the other, astounded. “Other half”? “To rot”? This guy couldn’t mean…

The latter guessed his thoughts and finished them for him:

-“I am the part you left behind, that night,” he explained with a low voice: “ _You_ are the coward part of us that fled because you were just too afraid to face _her_!” he accused, pointing at Vanessa as he kept going: “And you abandoned me in there, _with her_! You left me in this pathetic body while you buried your head in the sand, _not even considering the possibility I existed_!”

He laughed bitterly, tilting his head on his side:

-“You know, I have thought _a lot_ about why I was stuck in this place, the Horizon as I like to call it now. And I think I know. I can’t believe it took me _so long_ to understand why!”

He squinted, looking daggers at Snatcher:

-“I am incomplete. That’s why I can’t dwell in the mortal plane like a dweller or go to Heaven if it even exists! _You_ are the reason I got stuck in this dimension, forced to watch people living happily while I was alone for years! I have _no idea_ how you even exist, why _I_ was the one to suffer because of this… But I will _definitely_ fix what you did to me.”

He paused, smiling in a horrifying way as he revealed his plan:

-“I will not be incomplete _once you just stop existing_. I will not be missing any part of myself anymore. As soon as I stop maintaining the stability of the rift… You will both _perish_ and I will finally be _free_.”

A cruel laugh came out of his lips as he watched in delight Snatcher and Vanessa’s reaction to his plan. This guy was absolutely mad. They had to act now!

The shade was trying to find something, anything to help the kid and get them out of a situation like this one. However, when his eyes fell on the brat’s, he noticed her expression had changed from fear to determination. With her eyes, she instructed him to look at her right hand. When the spirit’s glanced down, his ghostly face grew pale immediately.

The kid had materialized a potion in his hand and was cautiously and gently shaking it to activate it.

Instantly, Snatcher’s body became weak at what she was planning to do. She couldn’t seriously think this was a good idea! There were so many other ways involving her not hurting herself in the process of getting away from this monster!

Said monster let his laugh die slowly and started to talk again:

-“Well… I guess this is time for us to say goodbye,” he said, before turning to Vanessa, who was shaking from rage: “I _really_ must thank you, Vanessa. Without you, I would have never been able to go this far. You were _so easy_ to manipulate! Getting the opportunity to _finally_ kill you is _the best gift_ you could have ever given to me.”

He was about to add something when a strong-willed voice interrupted him:

-“Not so fast, you crazy peck neck!”

The little girl’s voice echoed in the room, forcing the other to look at her, surprised. However, when his eyes fell on the little vial in the kid’s hand, his face crumpled in distress. Everything after that happened so fast. The monster immediately released her, trying to get away from her before the potion exploded. Once she was free again, the hat-wearing child managed to throw the potion in his direction while she was sent flying to the other side of the room. Red strings had caught her arms and were taking her as far as possible, but it was too late. The vial had been thrown and the kid had managed to get away from their enemy without getting harmed!

But as Moonjumper was blinded with the explosion, he lost the control of his strings, not seeing where they were taking the brat anymore. But Snatcher was seeing what was about to happen, but he was far too slow to prevent any of it. A deafening and horrifying scream left his lips as he witnessed the little girl being impaled on one of Vanessa’s previous ice pillars.

[Erekio](https://soundcloud.com/valerianne-feuillet) · [Moonjumper's Evil Plan (voice acting by Puyo-Proto)](https://soundcloud.com/valerianne-feuillet/moonjumpers-evil-plan-voice-acting-by-puyo-proto/s-iCSgmaGap5p)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)


	25. “Why won’t you let me hurt him?!”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Moonjumper has a lot of things to worry about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [WARNING : THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS GRAPHIC DEPICTIONS OF VIOLENCE, GORY ELEMENTS AND GORY DRAWINGS. One drawing is particularly gory. If it makes you ill-at-ease, I would suggest reading the chapter by skipping those passage. Next chapter will be completely SFW, this is the last gory chapter.]
> 
> [The rating and the tags have been edited to fit the recent graphic elements of the story.]
> 
> Okay guys, I couldn't leave you on such a cliffhanger. I'm posting the 25th chapter now. I haven't started writing the 26th yet, but it'll be easier to wait for it instead of waiting for this chapter.  
> Hope you'll like it ! In my case, I love all your reactions so far, especially on the last chapter :)
> 
> So... So many drawings............ Well, I wanted this chapter to have a lot of drawings, after all. Hope you'll like them !
> 
> Happy reading !
> 
> You can find me on my art blog here : https://erekiosuncreativeideas.tumblr.com/

Murdering the hatted brat had always been one of Snatcher’s objectives after meeting her. Seeing her dying again and again in his advanced contracts had always been _hilarious_ to him. Of course, everything happened in one of his pocket dimensions, so those deaths were only part of the illusions he had created for her. Still, watching the child dying over and over again and making fun of her in the process… This had been _so enjoyable_ to him.

However, what was happening now was _everything but enjoyable or fun_ to him.

 _Red_. Everything in front of him was red. The little girl’s chest had been impaled by a huge ice pillar previously created by Vanessa during her attempts to hurt Moonjumper. Blood came out of the child’s mouth as the ice penetrated her small and trembling body. Shock had taken place on her features, as she watched in horror what had happened to her. The ghost could see the fear in her eyes as the terrifying realization hit both of them like a train.

 _She wasn’t going to survive this_.

Vanessa was staring at them in despair, repeatedly glancing between the two in horror, as she probably feared the ghost’s reaction. She was still on the ground, kneeled and tied up by the other spirit’s red strings. The latter had recovered from the explosion, almost not affected by it. When he understood what had happened, a similar expression appeared on his face, though much more intense than the Queen’s. He stared at the deadly injured kid with a face full of shock and _guilt_.

-“No…” he murmured, watching the child shaking from the pain and the emotion: “No, I did not want _this_ , I did not…”

The girl’s little hands weakly grabbed the ice pillar, as if she was trying to take it out of her. _But it was too late._ She lifted her head slowly and gave the shade a desperate look, tears rolling down on her cheeks.

-“S-Snatcher…!” she called out to him, extending a trembling hand to the only person she trusted in the room. The effort made her cough more blood and she whined at the sharp pain. The sight instantly broke Snatcher’s heart and, suddenly, _nothing else mattered anymore_. Whether it was Vanessa’s presence or Moonjumper’s, _the ghost didn’t care_. All he cared about was joining the child’s side, all while knowing fully well that there was no way she would survive something like this.

The shade ran to her, careful not to touch her as he stopped to her sides. Dread, sorrow, _hopelessness_ … All these feelings had engulfed him as he watched the child suffering just in front of him. Her blue eyes met his and more blood came out of her mouth as she started to sob.

-“It’s okay, kiddo, I’m- I’m here!” stuttered the ghost, not caring about anything at all but his ex-contractor. He took her hands in his, shakily, as he tried to reassure her, though they both knew it wouldn’t change her fate: “It’s okay, it’s okay!” he repeated, though much more for himself than for her.

-“I-I don’t want to die…!” blurted the kid between sobs. She lowered her head to look at the pillar coming out of her chest, but Snatcher stopped her from doing so.

-“Don’t look at it!” he ordered in a panicked voice, and then repeated it when the kid didn’t comply the first time: “Look at me!” he wailed, forcing her to lift her head once again.

She obeyed, her breathing rhythm quickening as she started to cough blood again. The ghost could see how hard it was for her to keep her eyes open. Her body was slowly sliding down the ice pillar as gravity was pulling her to the floor. The ghost instantly tried to put his hands behind her back to prevent her from sliding more and suffering in the process, but the contact made her cry.

-“I’m sorry, I-” he stammered, watching the kid’s face growing pale more and more as she was losing blood. On the floor, a puddle was starting to form under the shade’s feet. His heart sunk in his chest when he saw the child’s eyes rolling back in her head, her body becoming limp in his arms. Dread engulfed him whole, realizing that this was it. The kid was dying. _In his arms_.

-“No!” he yelled, trying to shake her carefully, his mind racing to find a solution, any solution to prevent her death: “Don’t you _dare_ die in my arms, kiddo! _Don’t you dare_!” But the little girl wasn’t moving anymore… _And she had stopped breathing as well_.

Snatcher took a few steps back, his whole body trembling in horror: the kid had died, just in front of him. _This couldn’t be happening_ … This entire thing could only be a dream! He had tried to kill this girl so hard in the past and she died this easily _now_? He couldn’t believe it!

And yet, this was all so very real.

His eyes widened when he saw the little girl’s corpse starting to glow purple. Something pink seemed to come out of her body, like an aura coming off her. Blue tears appeared in his eyes as he immediately understood what it was: _the kid’s soul_. The very soul he had wanted to eat at the beginning of their relationship. And now that his ex-contractor was dead, her soul was leaving her body to whatever place souls went to.

Snatcher went back to the child’s corpse, extending his hands to the purplish soul, holding it. Behind him, he could feel Vanessa’s and Moonjumper’s stare on him, _but he didn’t care_. This was not the time. _Nothing else mattered anymore_. The world was silent around him, as he rubbed slowly the little soul in his hands.

It was soft and it smelled like sweets, just like the kid used to smell like. Its aura was strong, just like it used to be before. Snatcher could feel its strength in his hands vanishing, as it was slowly leaving the mortal plane. Soon enough, it would be gone and all that would be left of the kid would be her lifeless corpse.

He started to sob again, holding the soul close, not wanting it to leave him. All around him, his cries were echoing in the room and he couldn’t help but fall on his knees. He couldn’t take all of these emotions anymore. It was too much, _too much_. And the idea of the little girl dying when he didn’t want her to… _This wasn’t fair_! Why? _Why did everyone he loved have to die_?!

He cried and cried and cried, feeling the soul disappearing little by little. However, just before it should have vanished, the shade felt something penetrating his body. A huge quantity of power was trying to get into him and, when he looked down at the soul in his hands, his face crumpled: _the kid’s soul was voluntarily trying to get absorbed by him_.

 _This couldn’t be_.

The spirit immediately tried to put it away, refusing to accept what the child’s soul was trying to do. Souls, per se, weren’t fully conscious, though they kept some memories and feeling of their previous life. And while most souls tried to flee with the little power they had, the child’s one was trying to get eaten on purpose.

 _Because she knew how much he needed his powers back when she was alive_.

-“No!” he screamed, while the soul had already managed to get a bit of itself in his body, “Stop that, _I don’t want it_!” his desperate voice resonated in the attic, but it was no use. A soul was just the remains of someone’s feelings and thoughts, it wasn’t conscious. Talking to it was simply useless.

And so, no matter how much he tried to pull it away, it managed to enter his body.

Snatcher’s form began to change as a huge source of energy started to stimulate the powers he had lost for days. The shade’s entire being was being overwhelmed and, soon, his body began to take another form, one he had known for years. His legs disappeared, replaced by a long and purple tail, his hair changed to a curly mane. As for his hands, they were replaced by claws, very _, very sharp claws_.

The spirit remained motionless, trying to digest what had just happened. Did the kid sacrifice her own chance for an afterlife… _For him_? To save him? _Him, of all people_? He couldn’t believe it.

-“I am…” another voice rose behind his back and the ghost was back to reality: “I did not want this, _I promise_! I was not actually planning to… _To_ …”

Snatcher recognized the voice instantly. It was Moonjumper’s. The latter had come closer, floating right behind him as he stared at the kid’s lifeless corpse. His expression was full of guilt and he was playing with his hands anxiously, trembling. He was shaking his head slowly, not wanting to believe what had happened, _what he had just done_. Vanessa, behind them, was still on her knees, tied up by the monster strings and unable to move because of that. Her eyes were quickly glancing between the two men, fearing the shade’s reaction at the other’s _pitiful_ excuses. Little by little, Snatcher felt his despair disappear, pure rage taking its place. His kneeled body started to float in the air, his mane becoming spikier and sharper as the emotions were starting to take over him. The same was happening to his claws and to his fangs, as a growl left his mouth. Slowly, very slowly, he turned to the one who had dared speak to him.

 _The one who had killed her_.

The shade bared his fangs to Moonjumper, dangerously looming over him. Heat was radiating from his entire body. His breathing was heavy and he gradually lifted his claws, summoning huge blue flames. He was going to kill him, he was going to make him pay. He gave the other a death glare as he mumbled, with a very low and dark intonation:

-“ _You…_ ” The spikes on his form grew as his fury intensified. His voice was full of hatred and his eyes were sending daggers at the monster. Vanessa being in the same room as him and staring at him didn’t matter. What was happening to him didn’t matter.

 _All that mattered was to avenge the kid_.

Fear immediately came back on Moonjumper’s face as he realized how much in danger he was. He floated away quickly, avoiding a swipe of claws by very little. Snatcher’s fury was obvious and each one of the ghost’s attack was faster and more meddled than the last. Though, having his powers back made him much, _much more dangerous_ than how he used to be back in his human form. This was something the evil spirit understood quite well as he stopped being the one attacking and instead tried to defend himself, trying to flee the fight rather than attempting to win it. Snatcher was now a real threat to him and each swipe of claws proved it more than enough. One of them managed to hit him in the shoulders and take away a bit of fabric from his red coat. Moonjumper let out a panicked whine, trying to flee harder and releasing the strings on Vanessa to focus entirely on his new dangerous opponent.

 _What a mistake it was_.

With her new freedom, Vanessa stood up quickly, determined to put an end to this. Her powers had corrupted a huge part of her body now, covering the sides of her neck. Her legs were now affected as well, the blackness of the corruption spreading to her knees as she was using her ice powers again. She probably knew she would soon be back to her monster form soon, just like Snatcher was now. But it didn’t matter to her anymore.

She was not going to be selfish this time. She knew how much the ghost needed her at the moment, whether it was as support in fight or emotionally speaking. She wouldn’t be able to do much in the latter, yet she had the potential to help in the former. And so, the Queen started to summon walls of ice, trying to block Moonjumper’s attempts at fleeing the shade. A shocked expression appeared on the monster’s face as he understood his mistake, which had been to release Vanessa.

Fear soon replaced his shocked features as new ice walls appeared around him, trapping him inside.

-“No, no, please!” pleaded the monster, scratching the ice inside, though it was much too thick to do anything. His voice showed how frightened he was and he did everything to get out of the closed space. But this wouldn’t be a problem for long. Snatcher would make sure of that. With another swift swipe, the shade destroyed one of the walls in front of him, revealing a terrified and trapped Moonjumper, curling up to protect himself.

_Oh no, this wouldn’t do_. Snatcher lifted one of his claws, ready to take advantage of the other’s vulnerability… Yet, when it was time to give the final blow, he felt his hand being blocked in the air, unable to strike.

 _What was happening_? Why couldn’t he bring his hand down?

As confusion appeared on his features, Moonjumper reopened his eyes slowly, watching the shade carefully. He saw an opportunity in the ghost’s confused state and threw new red strings in his direction, trying to contain him and escape. However, as soon as the strings tied themselves around Snatcher, Vanessa summoned a new wave of ice pillars, cutting them in the middle and interrupting Moonjumper’s attempts at hurting Snatcher.

The other knew very well he had no chance of winning against two very angry powerful spirits. Thus, he made another attempt to flee, but Snatcher would not let him. _This was out of the question_. Without thinking twice, the spirit tackled him onto the ground with force, like a beast jumping on its prey. Snatcher entire’s body was boiling. His claws clenched around the other’s arms, maintaining them on the ground as his ghostly form was looming over him. He was so furious his body was having trouble keeping its form and, soon, some of his energy started to escape from his body, leaking from his mouth and dropping to the monster under him, sizzling on his blueish skin.

-“I’m going to _kill_ you…” he growled, clenching his claws in Moonjumper’s arms, feeling a huge feeling of satisfaction as the other winced from the pain. _Oh, but this was just starting_! A cruel and bitter laugh escaped his lips as he approached his face to the evil spirit’s one: “Oh, I’m going to make you _suffer_ so much! You’re going to beg me to end your life!”

-“I- I did not want this, _please_ , I-” Moonjumper was trying his best to get away, but it was all in vain. Snatcher would not let him go. Instead, the spirit only squeezed the monster’s arms harder, just to make him whine again. He approached his face to his enemy’s, his breathing hot on the latter’s face.

-“Don’t you _dare_ ask for _mercy_ now!” roared Snatcher, as tears rolled on his face, falling onto the other below him: “ _You asked for this_. You don’t have any excuse, _no_ …” the shade let out another insincere laugh before saying, darkly: “You deserve _more_ than what I plan to do to you…”

Another voice then interrupted him:

-“Alistel… Maybe you should stop… Or do it quickly,” it was Vanessa. Did he hear that right? Did the Ice Queen, _who had frozen the entirety of Subcon Village and killed all its inhabitants_ , ask him to stop? To be _merciful_? This couldn’t be happening! The irony of this situation was just _too fucking great._

The shade only squinted, not looking away from his soon-to-be victim as he answered, even more furious than before:

-“Stop? You want me to _stop_?” he said, then chuckling cruelly: “ _Oh no_ , I don’t think I will. You, _of all people_ , don’t have the right to tell me to stop.”

Vanessa fell silent and he guessed he had hit a nerve. But he didn’t care. Under him, Moonjumper’s face showed how terrified he was. He was still trying to flee, using his strings to pull Snatcher away, but now that the shade could use his powers… _Nothing could stop him_. And especially not his previous corpse, even less in the shape it was in.

The ghost summoned his flames once more, determined on burning the other very, very slowly. The fire attacked the other’s arms, making him scream in pain. His voice echoed in the attic, but it was just _music_ to Snatcher’s ears. _Oh, how wonderful_. He had waited for this moment so much! He let out another laugh, gaining more and more volume as he watched the other spirit suffer just under him. Oh, how _fun_ this would be to see him beg for mercy over and over again! And see his crumpled face when the shade would just _deny it_ , making him scream again _for hours_.

He tried to summon more flames, decided on intensifying the other’s suffering… However, even though he had access to his powers, something was preventing him from using them to their fullest. It was like a small _presence_ , trying to stop him from hurting the monster below him. At first, Snatcher didn’t understand what it was. Why would something like this happen when he had regained his powers? What could possibly do that?

And suddenly, Snatcher realized what it was exactly.

 _The kid’s soul_. It was preventing him from killing the other. The ghost’s rage and sadism were soon replaced by bewilderment and confusion: _why_? Why was it trying _so hard_ to prevent him from _avenging her_? _How_ was it even able to do that?

Snatcher gritted his fangs in frustration, clenching the evil spirit’s arms harder, as the flames around his hands were still burning the latter’s arms. The monster just screamed again in agony as a smell of burnt rotten flesh started to emerge from his injuries, alongside a smell of burnt clothes. The smell was disgusting and unbearable, but the ghost just didn’t care. Why, why, _why_ was she so persistent, _even after death_?

-“Why…?” he mumbled, enraged with her strong-willed attitude: “ _Why_ won’t you let me kill him for you?!” he exclaimed, absolutely livid: “He _deserves_ to die! He _deserves_ to have his limbs ripped off, to have what’s left of his bones broken, to be burnt to death! So _why_ won’t you let me murder him?!”

The child’s soul wasn’t giving up, still as stubborn as the way she was back when she was alive. No matter how hard Snatcher was trying to intensify the flames around his hands, _he just couldn’t_. Now was _not_ the time to be stubborn! He just wanted to avenge her, make him pay for killing her! _Why couldn’t she just let him do that for her_?

The shade screamed madly as more tears rolled on his cheeks. It petrified the monster under him even more, making the latter stop his pitiful attempts at escaping him.

-“I want to murder him, I want to make him suffer! _He deserves it_!” he yelled, his voice full of rage and despair ad he begged the child once more: “Let me kill him! Let me break his bones one by one! Let me burn each part of his body painfully!” He screamed again, before asking sharply, though it was obvious it wouldn’t change anything: “ _Why won’t you let me hurt him_?!” he pleaded hopelessly, starting to sob again as he could feel the child’s soul still holding him back.

Silence fell after that. The only sounds echoing in the attic were the sound of the breathes he didn’t need, of his sobs, of the panic heartbeat of the one below him. The sound of his own claws against the floor resonated in the attic, the clear sign of his growing misery and frustration.

The kid’s soul wouldn’t give up. It wasn’t like her to do so. She had never given up during his advanced contracts and, even after death, she _still_ wouldn’t obey him. He had been so wrong to think she would. No matter _how hard_ he would fight her, _how hard_ he wanted to kill this monster under him… He would _never_ be able to change her mind.

There was nothing he could do against her. And if letting this spirit live was her dying wish… Who was he to fight it? He sobbed at the thought: he didn’t understand. Why wouldn’t she want her murderer to die _painfully_? To pay for what he did to her? He didn’t understand! This made no sense, _this wasn’t fair_!

Despair engulfed him completely again as he made the flames disappear slowly. Below him, Moonjumper was breathing heavily, visibly terrified and unsure of what was going to happen to him. His eyes were scanning Snatcher’s, looking for any opportunity to get away from him. His arms were severely burnt and there was no doubt it was extremely painful.

The ghost was about to let Moonjumper go, having nothing left to do since he couldn’t kill him… However, he felt _another sensation_ deep inside of him. A feeling, an intuition… Something he had never felt before and yet something which both felt extremely weird and _natural_ to him. His attention was now attracted by the monster’s coat, as if a part inside of him was telling him to inspect it. No, it wasn’t just an intuition… It was _a need_ , _an urge_. It was like a voice telling him to check the inner pockets of Moonjumper.

Was it… The kid’s soul talking to him _from the inside_? _How_ was it even possible? No soul had ever tried to talk to him that way before! Then again, none of the souls he had eaten before had let itself being consumed on purpose before… This was completely new to him. But if this was the little girl trying to reach out to him… He just couldn’t ignore her. He would respect all of her dying wishes, _because he hadn’t been able to save her_.

This was the least he could do.

Without thinking twice, he grabbed the other’s wrists with one hand and used the other one to open the latter’s coat with a quick swipe.

-“No, wait-! _Don’t_!” stuttered Moonjumper, though Snatcher did not want to listen to him. Somehow, he had a pretty good idea of what the kid was trying to say to him. The sight of his previous rotten corpse greeted him as he opened the coat, but he simply ignored it. This was not his corpse. _Not anymore_. The insides he was seeing were not his and Snatcher had seen many, many corpses before. This was nothing new to him and he was absolutely not fazed seeing the other’s rotten organs. The shade had seen much worse things before.

His suspicions were soon confirmed as his eyes landed on a bright object hidden in Moonjumper’s ribcage: the Time Piece. It was almost unseen, hidden between the evil spirit’s rotten organs. Snatcher squinted from the sight and extended his free hand to it, grabbing it firmly.

-“No, no, no, _no_ -!” pleaded the other, panicking at what was going to happen to him. But it only brought back Snatcher’s sadistic self as he clenched his claws around the time artefact.

-“Oh, _don’t worry_ ,” he cooed cruelly, smiling devilishly: “it’s only going to hurt _a lot_ ,” he assured, with a fake gentle voice.

And then, not listening to the other’s terrified pleas, he ripped the object out of the latter’s chest, listening to his scream of pain as he did so. Horrifying sounds resonated in the room as he broke some of Moonjumper’s ribs in the process, not caring if he pulled on some organs as well. Black blood gushed out of the monster’s chest, forming a puddle under them. The putrid smell of the blood was unbearable, yet it was just _oh so perfect_ to Snatcher, who only watched the other suffer. He could feel the child’s disappointment inside of him, but he hadn’t been able to hold himself back. Maybe the kid didn’t want revenge, _but he certainly did_. At least, he hadn’t killed him, _just like she had wished_.

Vanessa looked away, knowing very well she couldn’t do anything to make it stop, but not wishing to see or hear any of it like he was. She covered her nose, trying to ignore the sour smell of Moonjumper’s dark blood. The latter fell silent, screaming silently with his mouth open and trembling on the ground. He wouldn’t die from it, Snatcher knew it. That guy had said he was both alive and dead at the same time… So he had the feeling the evil spirit would survive this.

Seeing how Moonjumper was not a threat anymore, he let go of the latter’s wrists and floated away. He glanced sorrowfully to the kid’s corpse in the other side of the room as he began to think. Would breaking the Time Piece fix everything? Would she be brought back to life if he smashed it onto the ground? The kid had never told him if those hourglasses could bring back someone from the dead… And he was _so afraid_ to hope for nothing. What would he do if, after breaking the Time Piece, the child still remained dead?

He was _terrified_ of the idea of never seeing her again, or never hearing her childish giggling again. He wouldn’t be able to mock her anymore, she wouldn’t be there to try his advanced contracts, she wouldn’t pester him anymore, call him her BFF…

Snatcher wasn’t sure he could deal with her death. He had had to deal with the death of an entire village before, but somehow, this felt so much different. He had said plenty of time he didn’t care about her, _and yet_...

“ _I don’t want her to die… Please,_ ” he begged internally, holding the Time Piece close to him as he pleaded whatever deity listening to him: “ _Please, let her live, this is all I’m asking for!_ ”

And then Snatcher shut his eyes hard and threw the Time Piece to the floor as he continued begging mentally: “ _please, I don’t want her to die!_ ”

The world became white suddenly, erasing everything that existed around them, as the ghost felt everything collapsing around him.

“ _Please let her live!_ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ANOTHER CLIFFHANGER !  
> But... It's more hopeful, so... We'll see what happens next :)
> 
> See you soon !


	26. “There is nothing left to fix.”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Snatcher wakes up in a familiar place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter ! Boy, we're getting closer and closer to the end !!  
> I hope you'll like this chapter as well !
> 
> Thank you SO MUCH for all your comments, you guys are the best !! Really, THANK YOU !
> 
> Happy reading ! :D
> 
> You can find more of my art/fanfiction updates here : https://erekiosuncreativeideas.tumblr.com/

It all happened very quickly, and yet, it all seemed extremely long to Snatcher. Somehow, he had thought that teleportating to the kid’s ship was the worst thing he could have experienced, _but oh_ , he had been so wrong. Getting out of the Time Rift using the Time Piece was _worse_ than everything he could have ever imagined. He had felt his whole body disintegrating itself before disappearing, probably to reform itself in the main universe, just like the kid had explained it to him once.

When the ghost reopened his eyes again, he was sitting in a plum-coloured armchair. The sight immediately greeted him was his own body, just like it used to be before entering the rift. He still had his long tail, lying on the ground. His hands still had sharp claws, but they weren’t as cutting as before. His mane was a little tousled, but it was very different from what it used to be when he was fighting Moonjumper.

The shade took a look around him, confused after everything that had happened. As soon as his eyes examined the room he was in, he instantly recognized the place: he was in Vanessa’s room. But it wasn’t the one from the past, from the Time Rift… _It was the one from the present_. It was dark outside, and not much light illuminated the room because of that. Some wall lights gave off a gentle light. A lot of swipe marks could be seen on the walls, the red and once beautiful tapestry completely ruined by them. The room was cold, but it wasn’t surprising, seeing as he was back in the present. On the end of the room, the spirit could see a frozen corpse, still standing as their expression showed _absolute horror_.

Then, the shade’s eyes fell on his ex’s bed, on which lied a body, a small body he recognized immediately. _The kid_.

His face paled instantly and he pushed himself out of the armchair, floating quickly to the child’s side. The first thing he did when he appeared next to her was to look at her chest, searching for any blood, any _gruesome_ hole inside… But there was nothing. _As if she hadn’t even been hurt at all_. But this wasn’t what shook the ghost the most.

The little girl was _breathing_. Her chest was going up and down as air filled her lungs, again and again _and again_. The shade stared into space as the realization hit him suddenly: the kid was _alive_. She was _safe_. The fact brought light blue tears to his eyes, which he quickly dried up on his arms. Why was he crying about? The little girl wasn’t _dead_ anymore, it was so _stupid_ for him to cry about _that_!

Just to be sure, he closed his eyes and attempted to see if he could still feel the child’s soul inside of him. While he could feel most of the recent souls he had consumed… He couldn’t find the little girl’s one among them, no matter how hard he tried to focus. _It just wasn’t there_. On the other hand, if he focused on the area near him… He could sense a vivid quantity of energy inside the child’s small body, almost like a huge smudge of purple paint on a black canvas.

She was _alive_. He couldn’t believe it.

The tears he had been trying so hard to contain eventually came back and rolled on his ghostly cheeks. He lifted his hands to his face, trying to make them go away, but it only brought more of them. _Why_ was he _crying_?! This was just a _dumb kid_!

… _A dumb kid he had grown attached to_ , much to his despair. He had always denied how important she had been to his eyes, but when he felt her corpse becoming _limp_ in his trembling hands… _Something had changed inside of him_ , as if a switch had been flipped. Seeing the kid dead, _truly dead_ contrary to her many deaths in his advanced contracts… It was like he realized much too late how he cared for her. The moment life left her small body, something broke in his inexistent heart.

 _He had never wanted her to die in the end_. The moment he finally got to consume her soul… _He had pushed it away_ , not wanting to eat it at all when, at the beginning of their so-called friendship, this had been one of his main motives.

Oh, _how the tables had turned_. If someone had told him he would get _this_ upset over a child’s death… He wouldn’t have believed them. Then again… It wasn’t about _any_ little girl. This concerned the hatted brat directly.

God, he _did_ grow attached to this kid, didn’t he?

He lifted his claws to his head, letting his hands go through his mane as he floated around, fidgety. He glanced at the unconscious body of his ex-contractor. What would he say when she’d wake up? But as he wondered about that… Another question arose in his mind, a very, _very important question_.

 _Where the hell was Moonjumper_?

His previous confusion was soon replaced by pure rage as he remembered everything that had happened in the rift. Somehow, he couldn’t help but know the other was still alive, _somewhere_. He just _knew_ it. He closed his eyes, once more, trying to detect the monster’s soul in Subcon. His fury intensified when he did detect something, though much too vague for the ghost to actually find him. Oh, so he was _hiding_? _The coward_. Yet, it made sense, seeing how Snatcher would murder him on sight, preferably _slowly_ and _painfully_. Moonjumper was not a real killer and had most certainly bluffed when he was threatening them, probably waiting for the collapsing rift to finish the job instead. Considering his reaction when he - _supposedly accidentally_ \- murdered the kid, the other had not expected to actually hurt anyone and was most likely inexperienced in that field. Sure, he had been motivated by anger and jealousy… But next to someone who had _murdered_ hundreds of people and _eaten_ their souls for years, Moonjumper had absolutely no chance. Back when he was alive, Snatcher had never fought anyone seriously. He _did_ have some swordfight training in the past, but not enough to be truly experienced. So… It made sense it was the same for Moonjumper, seeing as they used to be the same person.

The shade didn’t really know what to think of that yet. He didn’t want to believe it, but… There were too many pieces of evidence. Though, he didn’t know how such a thing could be possible… Did the other say the truth? Was the reason they split because he was too afraid of Vanessa? Because he fled? But why did they split in that case?

Was there a part of him who… _Still had hoped for Vanessa to come back and free him_? Was this the reason? The shade frowned, looking at his hands who had started shaking. Somehow, he would have preferred not to know that. But it did make sense… He shook his head and tried to stop the trembling of his hands: there was no use in remembering the past. It was over and Moonjumper was hiding from him, probably decided to keep a low profile. The other surely knew very well that he wouldn’t win another fight against the shade, after all.

The ghost gave another nervous glance to the unconscious kid next to him. When would she wake up?

He was brought out of his reverie when he heard footsteps coming from the hallway. A deep feeling of fear engulfed him: was Vanessa… Still _lucid_? She hadn’t harmed the kid and she was probably the one who made him sit in the armchair in the first place. Still… The spirit couldn’t help but be scared, placing himself between the door and the child. She was _safe_ now and Snatcher would make sure _it_ _stayed the same_.

A shiver ran down his body as the door opened, revealing the dark and terrifying silhouette of the Queen, back to her old form. Her back was hunched again, her hair had turned black once more, red eyes shining on her face. She was holding a tray of something, and the sight instantly churned Snatcher’s inexistent stomach: _cookies_.

Her red and gleaming eyes landed on him, making him instantly nervous, though he did his best not to show it. Facing Vanessa while she looked as a human was one thing… But facing her monster form was another, _a much more scary experience_. Vivid memories invaded his mind, while he was forced to remember his last moments in the cellar, hoping she would change her mind and let him out.

 _What a fool he had been_.

She was apparently just as anxious as he was, looking away as she started to speak, the echo of her voice resonating in the room:

-“Oh, you’re… You’re awake,” she noticed, before handing him the tray she was holding, as an invitation for him to take one of the cookies on it. However, the very idea of putting one of them in his mouth made him sick. He declined, shaking his head and grimacing. Then, his eyes fell on Vanessa’s right arm, which had red strings tied up all around it. His mind immediately conjured a picture of Moonjumper and his rage came back at full force. What had he missed while he was unconscious?

-“What happened?” he asked, pointing at her arm, frowning. The Queen followed his stare and winced.

-“He… He was with us when we came back,” she explained: “He woke up around the same time as I did. As soon as he saw me, he ran away. I tried to stop him, but…” she lifted her arm, showing him that the strings had cut her black flesh: “I wasn’t fast enough. He attacked me and fled when I couldn’t move.”

The shade cringed at the sight. It didn’t look very good, but she didn’t seem in pain.

-“Does it hurt?” he questioned.

Vanessa shook her head as she replied:

-“Yes, but less than before. It merely stings, now,” she paused and then continued: “He probably didn’t get the time to hurt me as much as he wanted to. He was more trying to get away rather than really attempting to kill me.”

Still, that meant Moonjumper was free to go everywhere he wanted and _Snatcher didn’t like this idea at all_. Plus, he had attacked the Queen on sight, meaning he would definitely do so again. Maybe he wouldn’t be able to face the shade in a normal fight, but he was still dangerous. The spirit absolutely didn’t want this guy around his forest or, more generally, _alive_. There was no way he was going to let that monster wander around in _his_ part of the Subcon woods. _No way_.

The Queen glanced at the unconscious little girl and her expression saddened. She put the tray on the nightstand. She was close to the kid and Snatcher couldn’t help but feel a tinge of nervousness at the thought. The woman seemed definitely just as lucid as she was in the rift, though her current appearance made the ghost terribly ill at ease. But contrary to his fears, she just stood there, staring at the little girl with an expression full of guilt.

-“I shouldn’t have tried to go back in time,” she eventually said, before sighing and looking away: “I used to think I was right to do so, but now… I can’t believe how stupid I’ve been,” she confessed.

The spirit remained silent, watching her, mixed emotions fighting inside of his mind. On one hand, he agreed on the fact that she had been stupid, that she shouldn’t have tried anything, that the kid had been hurt partially because of her… But on the other hand, there was a part of him that was _relieved_. He had felt the exact same thing while they were talking in the cellar, a few hours ago. After years spent in his part of the forest, wanting nothing more than Vanessa to understand what she had done, to realize that it had been _her_ fault all along… It was _freeing_. He still wouldn’t forgive her and he certainly didn’t want to spend time with her again willingly… But it was still something, _something he had wanted to hear so much in the past_.

Even if things were very different now, even if it was too late for that… _Snatcher felt relieved to hear those words from her_.

-“I was deluding myself, only seeing what I wanted to see,” she took a deep breath and kept going, her voice trembling: “I’m sorry,” she said, turning to him with tears in her eyes: “I’m so, so sorry. I… I did this and I can’t even fix _any of it_!”

Snatcher frowned at her last sentence:

-“There is _nothing_ left to fix, Vanessa,” he remarked, darkly: “ _It’s too late_. People won’t come back to life just because you feel sorry for killing them.”

The Queen looked away once more, rubbing her eyes quickly to dry her tears. She sniffed loudly and let out another murmur, playing with her hands anxiously as she did so:

-“You’re right…” She paused, and apologized again, trying to stop crying: “I’m sorry. For saying this, I mean. _It wasn’t right_.”

The ghost only nodded silently, accepting her apology. He moved closer to the bed and curled up next to it, just like a snake would. His eyes locked on the unconscious child, as a tensed silence settled in the room. Vanessa was just standing awkwardly behind the other side of the bed, looking out of place. She surely had understood that her relationship with him would never be the same and that she was currently in the way. She was avoiding his stare whenever he glanced at her and, after a few minutes, she seemed like she couldn’t bear staying there anymore, in this tensed atmosphere:

-“I’m… I’m going to bake more cookies,” she announced, moving to the door with hesitant steps: “… For her when she wakes up,” she added quickly. She then left the room without looking back at him and he was able to hear her steps getting farther away from the bedroom. The spirit relaxed a little, feeling better being alone with the kid. She was still breathing, slowly, _completely unharmed_. He noticed her hands twitching, maybe because she was dreaming. He couldn’t help but hope it wasn’t related to her previous injuries. After everything she had been through, _sometimes because of him and his remarks_ … She _did_ deserve to rest.

The ghost sighed and closed his eyes, ready to wait. He wouldn’t actually fall asleep, because ghosts couldn’t do so, but it would at least make the wait a little less unpleasant to him. He didn’t like being in here and he couldn’t wait for the moment he would be able to leave. He missed being in his forest the most, knowing his minions were safe. And with Moonjumper on the loose… He wasn’t reassured. If the guy decided to get his revenge on his minions… Snatcher would do _much more_ than ripping his rib cage open.

The spirit could hear the wind hitting the windows, the planks of the floor creaking, the noises coming from the kitchen… Seconds, minutes, _hours_ passed, Snatcher didn’t exactly know. All he knew was that he stayed motionless for a long time, listening to everything around him and plotting against Moonjumper. It is only when he heard the covers crumpling on the bed that his attention was suddenly brought back to reality, as he turned his head to the source of the sounds. His yellow eyes met the kid’s blue and tired ones, staring at him, confused and visibly exhausted.

-“Snatcher?” she questioned, weakly.

The ghost felt his spectral body grow cold as the realization hit him.

The hatted brat was now _awake_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Boy, do I love writing cliffhangers :)  
> See you on the next chapters ! Thank you again for reading and supporting this fanfic, this means so much to me !


	27. “Take care.”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All good things come to an end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS IS IT. THE FINAL CHAPTER.  
> AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH.
> 
> I hope you'll like it !!
> 
> Happy reading !
> 
> You can see more of my stuff on my art blog : https://erekiosuncreativeideas.tumblr.com/

-“Snatcher?” the little voice called out to him, weakly. The ghost’s eyes opened wide when he realized that the kid was now awake, safe and sound. Her eyelids seemed heavy and she had trouble keeping her eyes opened. She seemed exhausted, fighting the need to go back to sleep with determination. The spirit’s body instantly started to float as his mind went from boredom to surprise and relief in a blink.

-“Kid!” he exclaimed, his voice a little too emotional to his taste: “You’re awake!” A sigh of relief escaped his mouth, while the child sat up with difficulty. A huge feeling of nervousness engulfed the shade when he saw her clenching her chest, frowning in confusion. Was she still injured? But he hadn’t seen any blood on her! He had checked!

His worried eyes met the kid’s once more and the perplexed expression on her face intensified:

-“W-what happened?” she asked, definitely upset.

-“You don’t remember?” His apprehension worsened when the little girl shook her head, rubbing her stomach in the process. She was furrowing her brow, glancing everywhere, as if her mind was trying its best to find the memories it was missing. Snatcher didn’t really know how to let her know of her previous death… Was there a gentle way of informing someone of a situation like this one? Probably not… It’s not like people came back to life on a regular basis anyway. He opened his mouth, ready to start talking again, only to be cut short as the little girl let out a loud “holy peck!”, the words resonating in the bedroom.

The spirit was taken aback, very much surprised by her sudden reaction. He wanted to know what was happening to her, see why she had yelled but, somehow… A very different word left his lips:

-“Language!”

Both of them froze as they realized what the spirit had just said. Silence fell in the room and the child slowly turned back to him, staring with wide eyes. What happened after that shook the shade even more than everything he could have anticipated: the brat started _to laugh_. At first, it started off as little giggles, but it quickly transformed in louder fits of laughter, as she clenched her sides. Snatcher frowned, utterly baffled and ashamed. He couldn’t believe he had just made a remark like this! Who was he, _the girl’s father_?

The thought made him pale immediately and he gulped with effort. No, no, _no_ , he would _never_ think about that _ever_ again, _nope_. This made him feel _way too weird_ for it to be normal and this was definitely not something he wanted to think about anyway.

However, he was brought back to reality as the kid’s laugh slowly died, changing into what sounded like sobs. The hatted child curled up in a ball, holding her head and letting her fingers go through her hair. Her breathing rhythm had quickened and Snatcher could sense her soul starting to get extremely agitated, more than it ever was before.

-“Woah, woah, woah, kiddo, what’s wrong?” he called out to her, troubled by her rapid change of attitude. He floated higher, extending his hand to her shoulder before stopping, not touching her. What was he _doing_? Was he actually trying to _comfort_ her? _Him_? The soul-stealing ghost who had tried to _kill_ this kid once?

This couldn’t be happening, this was _ridicule_! And yet, when he heard more sobs coming from the little ball in front of him, he felt his inexistent heart shatter. Usually, these would be sounds he would be _delighted_ to hear! Crying children used to be his favourite thing in the world! But in this particular situation, there was _nothing_ to laugh about.

This was just breaking his heart. Yet, this was _nothing_ compared to what he felt when he heard the child murmuring something:

-“I-I died… Holy peck, I _actually died_ …!” she kept repeating, rocking herself back and forth as she did so.

_Oh_. So _that_ was why she had started crying. A wave of sadness hit Snatcher, as he was reminded of his own realization about death. Memories of him walking in the snow, trying to get away from the manor he was currently in, purposely ignoring why nothing hurt anymore, because he didn’t want to accept the idea of being dead… He understood _exactly_ what it felt like. He had felt it too, once, and still felt it sometimes. Crying about her own death made _perfect sense_ to him. Who wouldn’t, after all?

He remained motionless for a few seconds, looking at the brat with eyes full of sorrow. What should he do? He hadn’t comforted anyone in _hundreds of years_! How was he supposed to make a kid feel better? Sure, the subconites all used to be children, but it was a _very different_ matter! But the more he heard the kid sobbing, pulling on her hair, the more he felt compelled to do _something_. He couldn’t just ignore her and wait for her to feel better, _could he_? Well, he probably _could_ , though the idea felt extremely wrong to him for some reason. Thus, he extended his hand again, gently patting her head as he said words that truly sounded strange coming from him:

-“… There, there,” he muttered, glancing elsewhere as he felt the kid turning his head towards him, “It’s going to be okay. You’re still alive and well,” he added, hoping to reassure her more. He couldn’t believe he was doing _that_. The gesture felt _so foreign_ to him and so did the words. If he had been told someday he would _care_ for a child and even _comfort_ them… He wouldn’t have believed it.

And now, here he was, consoling a kid. Things sure had changed since the latter had started pestering him…

Next to him, he heard said kid sniffing and trying to contain her cries, little by little. Then, he felt a gentle contact on his hand, and he glanced back at her. She had taken his hand into hers and she was smiling weakly at him, her eyes red and puffy. Tears marks could be seen on her cheeks, and she dried them up on her sleeves.

-“Thanks,” she simply said, though her eyes conveyed much more than that. She let go of his hand and stared into space. Her mouth opened a few times, as if she wanted to say something but didn’t feel the courage to. The shade didn’t miss it and squinted. He had decided to ignore it, until he saw his ex-contractor smiling warmly, lost in her thoughts. What was _that_? She was _crying_ only a minute ago!

-“Wanna tell me what’s on your mind?” he questioned, though it was more an order than an actual request. The kid snorted and shook her head:

-“Nah, you’ll get mad,” but she was still smiling and the ghost didn’t like it. He felt like he had missed an episode. He elbowed the kid, feeling a smile returning to his face as he replied:

-“Kid, I _saved_ your life. I think you owe me this one.” The child just shrugged, but still nodded:

-“Alright, but don’t say I didn’t warn you, okay?”

The ghost frowned once again. What was _this_ all about? It couldn’t be _that_ serious, could it? No, it was just going to be _some dumb thing_ she was thinking about, just like any brat her age! Of course! _What else_ could it be?

-“Yeah, pfff, _right_.”

The kid giggled again and took a deep breath. Then, she started to talk, explaining what was on her mind:

-“Well… You know, Time Pieces aren’t _supposed_ to bring people back to life,” she told him, still staring into space, waiting for the ghost to process that new information.

Snatcher froze. _What was she saying_? She was _there_ , just in front of him, safe and sound! It was all thanks to the Time Piece he had smashed onto the ground, _wasn’t it_? He couldn’t see any other particular reason that could explain why the brat had been taken back to the main timeline, alive and well, if it wasn’t for the powers of the time artefact.

-“What do you mean? You were _dead_ a few hours ago! And you’re back now!” retorted the spirit, now very much confused. However, his expression only seemed to make the child smile even more. _Why_? What was she trying to say to him?

-“Well, _yeah_ , but it’s not exactly _because_ you broke the Time Piece. It doesn’t make people go back to life itself. But…”

-“ _But_?” pressed the shade, squinting his eyes.

-“But they affect what the person breaking them wants to change,” concluded the brat, turning her head back to him, staring directly into his eyes with a look full of emotions. At first, the ghost was perplexed, not getting what she was trying to say. _And then it hit him_.

_The kid was alive thanks to him_. Thanks to his wish of her coming back to life. _That_ was what she was saying.

-“Wait, wait,” he objected, raising his hand: “I _know_ what you’re implying and _no_. No, this absolutely did _not_ happen,” he lied, frowning. The kid merely giggled more in reply:

-“Yeah, _sure_ ,” she answered, though she seemed to know perfectly well that he was lying. Her smug expression made the shade even more irritated and he insisted, saying she was wrong, that she was just imagining things… But no matter how hard he tried to convince her, it felt like he was just digging his own grave ( _Ha!_ ). However… _She was right_.

He had wished for her to live, right before breaking the Time Piece. So… He _literally_ had saved her life, then? Just by _wishing_ for it? Did that mean that if he hadn’t tought about it… The kid would have remained dead? The very idea gave him an awful feeling he couldn’t quite grasp. How could someone’s life depend on a thought only?

Yet, his and Moonjumper’s story had quite a similar turn of events, in the end, so… He supposed it wasn’t so strange.

The shade’s inner monologue was cut short as the kid straightened up suddenly, her eyes wide open as if she had just realized something. He didn’t even get the time to ask about it as she stood up, wobbly yet very determined:

-“The Time Piece!” she exclaimed, then facing him: “Do you have it?” Snatcher was taken aback, yet he hadn’t even thought about it since the moment he woke up. If he had to be completely honest, all he had thought about since then had been the chi-

_Oh, who cared about honesty anyway_!

He shook his head:

-“No, I-,” well, it wasn’t like he could admit he hadn’t even thought about it, couldn’t he? Eventually, he just replied with another question, trying to change the topic: “What about _you_ , can’t you _sense_ them or something?”

She glared at him but still closed her eyes, focusing for a few instants. It seemed to be quite difficult, as she frowned while doing so, trying to keep her balance by putting her hands on the bed. She finally reopened her eyes, moving to the door with an unsteady walk:

-“It’s downstairs,” she declared, putting her hand on the door handle. Snatcher interrupted her, not liking how wobbly she was on her legs, very much to his despair.

-“Shouldn’t you _rest_?” he retorted, even though he wanted nothing more than to leave this awful place: “You’ve died _a few hours ago_ , don’t tell me you feel _fantastic_ right now!”

He couldn’t believe he had just said that. In front of him, the kid only rolled her eyes as she opened the door:

-“I feel fine, _dad_ ,” she countered sarcastically, though it still hit Snatcher like a train, even if she had already made this joke before: “Plus, if I _have_ to rest, I’d like to do it in my _own_ bed rather than in your ex’s.”

She did have a point. He still groaned, following her as she went down the stairs, floating next to her. God, he was _so glad_ to be able to fly again. He wouldn’t have to deal with legs ever again!

They arrived on the ground floor. Noises could be heard from the kitchen, probably because of Vanessa baking more of those _awful_ cookies. When the child approached the kitchen door, the shade sighed, frustrated. _Of course_ the Queen would have the Time Piece. Well, it wasn’t like he wanted to leave without saying anything, but he still didn’t like talking to her more than necessary. They weren’t going to be friends or anything else, even after her apologies.

The child opened the door, apparently just as sick and tired as he was. They were greeted by the sight of a huge mess in the kitchen: plates and mixing bowls everywhere, pastry on the counters, flour and milk spilt on the floor, utensils scattered around… And, on the dining table, the Time Piece, illuminating the room. As for Vanessa, she was crouched in front of the oven, watching the cookies baking. The shade couldn’t help but wince at the mess in the room: Vanessa had always loved baking, but she often made a huge mess in the process. Still, he wondered where she got those ingredients, since Subcon wasn’t exactly the place to find them… He supposed he would never know unless he asked her about it which, _really_ , wasn’t something he wanted to do.

The Queen heard them and turned in their direction, looking at them with her red and shiny eyes. The ghost felt the kid freeze in front of him, probably not expecting to see Vanessa in that form again. The shade knew that she was wondering if the situation was dangerous or not, just like he had when he had seen Vanessa again. He couldn’t blame her: his ex didn’t look exactly _harmless_ in that state. Plus, the little girl had had some traumatic experience the time he had sent her to the manor.

The woman stood up quickly, dusting her form as she tried to smile weakly. However, due to her fangs being visible, it only made ever even scarier than she already was.

-“Oh, you’re awake!” she exclaimed, though it was easy to see how anxious she seemed to be. She clapped her hands, fidgeting, and picked up a plate of cookies she had finished baking. She then walked closer to the little girl, who remained very tensed, as she was handed the plate.

-“Do you want some?” she asked, before looking away: “You must be quite hungry after… _After what happened_.”

Her tone had expressed much of her worry and guilt, and she hunched her back even more, while she was waiting for the kid to take one of the biscuits. Said kid looked at the cookies with distrust, then glanced at the shade, as if to ask his opinion on the matter. He made sure Vanessa wasn’t looking directly at him and slowly shook his head as an answer. While the woman had always loved baking and wasn’t particularly bad at it, he didn’t trust her enough at the moment. And well, _wouldn’t trust her ever again_. So he simply and silently told the child not to take any risk, _just in case_. It wasn’t like Vanessa was going to _poison_ them after everything that had happened, but _still_.

The little girl glanced back to the Queen and clenched her stomach, shaking her head with a sorry smile:

-“Uh… I feel a little too sick for that, right now… Sorry,” she apologized.

Vanessa’s expression saddened at her reply, but it quickly disappeared as she smiled once again:

-“Oh, then I can pack some for later!” Snatcher saw the child wincing at the offer but she still nodded, surely too afraid of upsetting the Queen. Well, at least, she wouldn’t be _forced_ to eat them, so that was that.

The Queen put back the plate on the counter and looked at her feet, ashamed:

-“I wanted to… I wanted to apologize,” she declared and soon clarified: “For what happened to you. It wouldn’t have happened if I had realized my mistakes. I shouldn’t have helped Moonjumper to create this other world. I’m so sorry, I truly am.”

The ghost could feel she was being sincere and he couldn’t help but feel relieved at the idea. All this time, he had wished for her to understand what she had done, and now it was _finally_ happening. It was too late, but at least, it was _still_ happening.

-“Most people can’t resist the powers of the Time Pieces,” replied the child, sadly: “It’s good if you understand now. A lot of people refuse to accept they were wrong about using them.”

Vanessa only nodded in response and her eyes glanced to the Time Piece on the centre of the table. She moved in its direction and picked up, very delicately. She approached the little girl with it and handed it to her, trying to smile as she did so:

-“I believe it’s yours,” she said: “Don’t let anyone use it the way I did.”

-“I won’t.”

The kid’s determined expression was enough to tell she was more than serious about this. In fact, she had always been, seeing how she was ready to do _anything_ to take them back. The abilities to rewind time, to create alternate dimensions… Those were extremely dangerous powers and it made sense that _someone_ was there to keep an eye on them.

Though, the fact that this certain someone was a _child_ still confused the ghost very much. What about her parents? _Her family_? _Who_ could let a _child_ so far away from home? But as soon as these thoughts entered his mind, a feeling of shame engulfed him: _why_ was he thinking about _that_? It wasn’t his business! There was probably a very logical explanation; she came from another planet, after all! The government was maybe very different, the laws as well… Who was he to judge? It wasn’t like he was a _good person_ either… After stealing and eating so many souls, he _surely_ didn’t have any say regarding moral questions.

His inner monologue was cut short when he saw Vanessa picking up a little bag of cookies, and she opened her mouth again to speak:

-“Are you leaving now?” she questioned, looking at both of them as if she wanted to say something, but couldn’t, fidgeting. To Snatcher, the very idea of leaving felt _extremely appealing_. The only thing he wanted at the moment was to come back to his forest and find back his old routine. Besides… He wasn’t feeling comfortable in the manor, _especially in the state it was in now_.

The child nodded, as she held the Time Piece close to her chest:

-“I should,” she said, before letting an awkward snort leave her lips: “I have a lot of things to fix on my ship, after all…”

The Queen seemed to be taken aback, perhaps because she had forgotten the kid was an alien for a brief moment. But she agreed, and accompanied them to the front door, opening it for them. When Snatcher and his ex-contractor stepped outside, Vanessa finally found back the courage to tell what had been on her mind:

-“I’ll unfreeze Subcon,” she promised, very much decided. The shade’s eyes widened at her words, but she continued before he was able to say anything: “I know it’s too late for that, but… I will keep a better control of my powers from now on. I know you won’t forgive me, and I understand… But I _really_ wanted you to know that I regret _everything_ I did.”

She paused, taking a deep breath and concluded, her eyes fixed on his:

-“Again, I’m really, _really_ sorry.”

The spirit felt like a huge burden had been taken off his shoulders. She had apologized before, yet… This was _much more_ important to him. There was something in her tone, in her words _, in that promise_ , something she had never shown before.

Something the shade had waited for _hundreds of years_.

Silence settled between them and, after a few seconds, words left his mouth:

-“Thank you,” he murmured and, while it wasn’t much, his intonation said enough about how much he was glad to finally hear that. He felt the little girl grab his hand and he turned his head towards her, surprised at the sudden contact. He felt his inexistent heart warming up when he saw the kind smile on her face.

Why? Why did he felt so _happy_ right now?

He quickly took his hand back, trying to ignore the disappointed look on the child’s face as he started to speak again:

-“Anyway, I think it’s time to go. I have traps to set, minions to order around, contracts to write... I’m a busy man.”

Vanessa’s smile came back as she answered:

-“I’m sure you are,” though she let out a snort when she saw the little girl rolling his eyes at his words. The ghost’s frustration came back, not liking the child’s attitude. However, he didn’t comment on it, as he was sure she would have made fun of him.

Another silence settled between them, as no one really knew how to end the conversation. Eventually, Vanessa broke the tensed atmosphere:

-“Well… Goodbye Alistel. I hope we’ll see each other in the future”, Snatcher nodded, but it wasn’t something really mutual, for now at the very least. The Queen then turned to the hatted brat and gave her the little bag of cookies she had promised her earlier:

-“Goodbye to you too, my child. I’m sorry for everything I put you through.”

The kid’s smile widened and she said goodbye as well. Vanessa eventually came back inside, closing the door behind her. Now, the spirit and the kid were alone once again. The ghost followed her as she stepped away, going down the stairs and jumping into the snow with a bunny hop.

-“So… What are you going to do, now?” he asked her, feeling anxious without knowing why.

-“I’ll fix my ship, now that I can search for spare parts around.”

-“And then?”

The child gave him a confused look, not really understanding where all those interrogations came from.

-“Well… I’ll continue looking for my missing Time Pieces. There are some I haven’t collected yet, and I better find them fast. Why?”

The ghost was taken aback. She did have a point: _why_ did he care so much about what she was going to do? She had an entire spaceship for herself, allowing her to explore the _whole universe_ if she wanted to! She would probably leave the planet after having found all of her Time Pieces, going to whatever place she had initially planned. But somehow, it all _bothered_ him. Awful emotions hit him like a wave at the idea of the kid disappearing of his life forever. And, to his greatest horror, he knew why.

_He didn’t want her to leave_.

His face paled and he lost some altitude, floating closer to the ground as if he was crushed under the realization. He, _the terrifying soul-stealing ghost of Subcon forest_ , had grown _attached_ to a little kid. And now, that kid would be leaving soon.

_He didn’t want that_.

-“Snatcher? You okay?” voiced the child, staring at him with a concerned and perplexed expression. He was brought back to reality by her words, now very well aware he had let some of his emotions appear on his face and through his body language. Yet, he absolutely refused to tell her what was bothering him. Realizing he had been deluding himself was one thing, _admitting it aloud was another_. The ghost brushed it off, not wanting the child to understand what was on his mind:

-“ _Of course_ , why wouldn’t I be?” he replied, doing his best to keep his smile painted on his face as he continued: “We’re _finally_ back, of course I’m okay!”

The brat didn’t seem convinced by his claims, yet she didn’t insist further, maybe too tired for that. Snatcher was relieved to see she didn’t try to pray into his thoughts. There were some things he didn’t want to say… _At least not before a while_.

-“Anyway…” The hatted kid yawned lengthily and stretched, making some of her joints crack: “I think I’ll go back on my ship. I need a nap before working on anything, or I’ll end up damaging _a lot_ of important stuff.”

So this was it, then? The kid would teleport back to her spaceship and leave him there? The ghost didn’t like this possibility. Would she pester him again? Would she come back to see him before leaving? _Would she say goodbye to him_?

He sighed against his better judgement, and nodded, doing his best to use his usual intonation:

-“Well, _yeah_ , you better fix it! It would be _a shame_ if you died because of it, _right_?” However, the words felt wrong on his tongue. While it used to be sincere a while ago… _It wasn’t anymore_. Snatcher didn’t want the little girl to die anymore.

_What was happening to him_?

His reverie was interrupted as he heard the kid giggling. His eyes glanced back on her, and he was startled a little when she pounced on him, taking him into her arms. Her face stuck to his side , her hands holding him close, while he just stood there, astounded.

She was _hugging_ him? He looked down, staring at her in bewilderment. A few weeks ago, he would have considered it as annoying, bothersome, stupid, ridicule… But now, he felt nothing but pure warmness inside of him. Tears began to appear in his eyes, as he watched the little girl silently, while she was stroking his back gently.

_He didn’t want her to leave!_

He quickly dried up his tears on his arms, not wanting the kid to see them and, with hesitation, eventually replied to her embrace. He slowly put his arms around her too, looking away as sadness settled over him again. The child snorted:

-“Took you long enough,” she nagged mischievously. The shade took his hands back and pushed her away in response.

-“That’s it, young lady, _no more hugging_ ,” he groaned, making her laugh even more. She still stepped away, smiling at him:

-“Well… It’s time I fix the mess on my ship,” she announced, then continuing: “Don’t worry, I’ll visit you again, BFF!”

The shade was about to retort, his face yellow from the embarrassment, but the kid teleported herself away before he was able to say anything. A bright whitish light blinded him for a second and, when he reopened his eyes, the child was gone. A feeling of loneliness hit him like a train the second he realized he was now alone.

_She had left_. Sure, she had said she would come back, but… Snatcher couldn’t help but feel this way. He let his body fly higher as he lifted his head to look at the sky, knowing very well he wouldn’t see her ship, considering it was in the Void at the moment. Still, he stared at the sky for a few minutes, wondering if, perhaps, he was looking at her home planet from where he was. _He wished he knew_.

A sad smile came on his lips as he murmured a few words to her, happy and relieved she wouldn’t actually hear them coming from him:

-“Take care.”

The wind was the only thing replying to him and, after a few more minutes passed by watching the sky silently, he floated away, slowly making his way towards his part of the forest, glad all of this was over.

_This had truly been a nightmare to relive_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe this is the end... Welp, "Reliving An Old Nightmare" is finally over, and it's over 100k words ! Gosh... Thank you so much, everyone. I had never received so much support before for a fanfic and... Woah. I wouldn't have been able to finish writing it without you. I mean it.
> 
> After all the trouble I had for creating stuff these past years, writing and finishing such a long fanfic is an incredible accomplishment for me. Thank you, thank you so much.
> 
> I have other fanfictions on my mind, including two sequels for "Reliving An Old Nightmare". Stay tuned! 
> 
> Don't forget to check my blog if you want more information about what I'm doing: https://erekiosuncreativeideas.tumblr.com/


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